mm 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


w, 


Porfiiuo  Diaz,   Pkesident  or  Mexico 


ROY    AND    RAY 

IN 

MEXICO 


BY 


MARY  WRIGHT  PLUMMER 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 

HENRY  HOLT  AND  COMPANY 
1907 


Copyright,  1907, 

BY 

HENRY  HOLT  AND  COMPANY 


Published  May,  1Q07 


THE    QUINN    &    BODEN    CO.    PRESS 
RAHWAY.    N.    J. 


7 


To  the  many  American  children 

Whose  travels  have  been  chiefly  in  imagination, 
this  account  of  a  visit  to  our  great  next- 
door  neighbour  is  dedicated,  with 
the  hope  that  they  may  some 
day  see  its  wonders 
with  their  oivn 
eyes 


1367837 


PREFACE 

This  volume  does  not  pretend  to  be  a  guide- 
book to  Mexico,  or  a  history  of  the  country.  It  is 
simply  the  record  of  an  actual  journey  to  seven  or 
eight  Mexican  cities  and  towns,  as  experienced  by 
two  intelligent,  wide-awake  children,  with  some 
one  at  hand  to  answer  their  questions  and  call 
their  attention  to  things  they  might  otherwise  not 
have  noticed.  If  the  assurance  of  one  boy  to 
whom  the  manuscript  was  read,  that  "it  would  be 
interesting  to  anybody  who  wanted  to  know  about 
Mexico,"  proves  to  be  well-founded,  the  object  of 
its  writing  will  have  been  attained. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  The  Beginning 1 

II.  To  "San  Antone" 14 

III.  Across  the  Border  ....  .27 

IV.  Mexico  at  Last 41 

V.  The  City  of  Mexico 54 

VI.  Mexico  City  and  Guadalupe         ....  69 

VII.  Mexico's  President 88 

VIII.  Mexican  Specialties 106 

IX.  The  Glorious  Fourth  in  Mexico          .        .        .  118 

X.  The  Conquest 132 

XI.  TnE  Museum 146 

XII.  The  Museum  Again,  and  Chapultepec         .        .  156 

XIII.  The  Viga 167 

XIV.  Across  the  Mountains 177 

XV.  Cuernavaca 186 

XVI.  The  Sights  op  Cuernavaca 195 

XVII.  TnE  Countryside 205 

XVIII.  A  Little  History 218 

XIX.  More  Excursions 227 

XX.  Southward 239 

XXL  The  Great  Pyramid 254 

XXII.  Oaxaca 265 

vii 


viii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXIII.  The  Road  to  Mitla 278 

XXIV.  Mitla 290 

XXV.    Mitla  Continued 304 

XXVI.    The  Return  Journey 318 

XXVII.  Orizaba  and  Back  to  the  Capital  .  .  .  328 
XXVIII.     Northward  to  Guanajuato         .        .        .        .341 

XXIX.  Guanajuato,  Hill  of  the  Frogs  .  .  .350 
XXX.     More  Guanajuato 363 

XXXI.     Chihuahua  and  Home 373 

The  Mexican  National  Hymn 384 

La  Paloma 391 

La  Golondrina 397 

Index         ............    401 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Porfirio  Diaz,  President  of  . 

Mexico 

.     Frontispiece 

Map  of  Mexico 

Facing  page        1 

House  Companions 

42 

A  Laundry          .... 

52 

A  Beggar  Boy    . 

66 

Making  Tortillas 

90 

The  Sad  Indian 

150 

Castle  of  Ciiapultepec    . 

164 

The  Viga  Canal 

174 

Donkeys  Carrying  Grass 

184 

Market  Scenes  . 

196 

A  CUERNAVACA   BOY     . 

236 

Ox-CART  AND   ORGAN   CACTUS 

278 

Mexican  Kitchen  Range 

306 

Patio  of  Don  Felix 

316 

Orizaba        .... 

332 

A  Mine  Foreman  and  His  Ho 

me 

378 

ix 


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MEXICO 

SCALE  OF  MILC 


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lit 


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:$>0         Vj 


Coban , 


S.Tomffj 


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ROY  AND   RAY  IN  MEXICO 

CHAPTER  I 
THE  BEGINNING 

Roy  and  Ray  Stevens  were  twins,  and  were 
about  eleven  years  old  when  they  made  their  first 
long  journey.  They  had  gone  from  New  York  to 
Boston  several  times,  to  see  their  grandmother, 
and  they  had  once  made  the  trip  by  boat  from 
New  York  to  Portland,  Maine;  but  these  were 
trifling  journeys  compared  with  the  one  they  were 
now  going  to  take. 

Their  home  was  in  a  New  Jersey  suburb  of  New 
York,  and  their  bedrooms  were  small  adjoining 
ones  with  a  door  between,  so  that  they  could  talk 
back  and  forth  at  night  if  they  did  not  feel  sleepy. 
On  one  particular  June  morning  they  were  both 
awake  by  six  o'clock,  and  found  it  hard  work  to 
stay  in  bed  until  seven,  which  was  rising  time  for 
the  family. 

"Roy!"  called  Ray. 


2  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

"Um-huni,"  answered  Roy. 

"Do  you  know  what  day  it  is?" 

"Yes,  ma'am,  the  25th  of  June,  the  day  the 
Stevens  family  start  for  Mexico, — and  I  wish  it 
was  time  to  go  right  now." 

"I  wish  the  whole  Stevens  family  were  going," 
said  Ray,  "I  do  hate  to  leave  Ben  and  the  baby, — 
I'm  going  to  miss  them  awfully." 

"Grandmother '11  take  good  care  of  them,"  said 
Roy. 

"I  know  she  will,  and  Aunt  Jenny  promised  to 
write  and  tell  all  the  funny  things  they  do  and 
say, — but  that  won't  be  the  same  as  having  them 
right  with  us." 

' '  Pshaw !  You  're  homesick  already, ' '  said  Roy. 
"Why  don't  you  stay  at  home  if  you're  going  to 
feel  that  way?" 

"I  want  to  go — really  I  do,"  said  Ray,  "and 
when  we  get  started  I  suppose  I'll  see  things  that 
will  make  me  forget  the  children  part  of  the  time ; 
but  just  now,  you  see,  the  things  haven't  begun 
and  I  haven't  got  them  to  think  of.  Roy," 
— suddenly  changing  the  subject, — "is  father  very 
rich?" 


THE  BEGINNING  3 

''I  don't  know  certainly,"  said  Roy,  thought- 
fully, "but  I  guess  not  very  rich,  just  com- 
fortable, you  know.  We  haven't  got  an  auto- 
mobile." 

"No,  but  this  is  a  pretty  expensive  trip  we're 
going  to  take,  isn't  it?" 

"I  guess  it  does  cost  a  good  deal,"  said  Roy, 
"but  I  heard  father  tell  mother  one  day  that  if 
you  had  a  little  money,  he  believed  in  getting  the 
good  of  it  as  you  went  along,  and  I  suppose  that's 
what  he  means  to  do  when  he  takes  us  to  Mexico. 
I  shouldn't  wonder  if  he  had  some  business  there, 
too." 

This  last  was  true  and  this  was  the  reason  why 
the  Stevenses  were  going  to  Mexico  in  summer, 
which  is  the  Mexican  rainy  season,  as  Mr. 
Stevens'  business  could  not  wait  until  the  regular 
tourist  season,  which  is  late  winter  or  early 
spring  and  the  Mexican  dry  season.  But  he  had 
been  told  by  several  business  friends  in  Mexico 
that  July  and  August  were  really  the  pleasantest 
months  of  the  year  up  on  the  highlands  of  Mexico, 
that  one  escaped  the  heat  of  the  States,  and  that 
the  summer  rains  had  by  that  time  laid  the  dust, 


4  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

which  is  the  most  unpleasant  feature  of  the  Mexi- 
can climate. 

"Have  you  packed  your  part  of  the  trunk, 
Ray?"  asked  Roy. 

"Yes,  six  times,  and  every  time  I  forget  some- 
thing or  I  get  so  much  in  that  it  won't  shut,  and 
I  have  to  take  something  out.  Is  your  part  ready 
now?" 

"No,"  said  Roy,  "and  I  guess  I'll  get  up  right 
now  and  pack  it.    It'll  be  something  to  do.': 

"Well,  don't  take  any  of  my  space,  for  I  need 
it  all,"  warned  Ray.  "Mother's  going  to  look  it 
all  over  when  it's  done,  anyhow.  I  was  going  to 
put  in  several  papers  of  pins  and  all  the  thread 
in  my  work-basket,  and  she  asked  me  if  I  thought 
I  was  going  to  a  country  where  you  couldn't  get 
pins  and  thread.  She  says  the  shops  in  Mexico 
get  their  things  in  Paris,  and  are  almost  as  good 
as  New  York  shops.  You  know,"  confidentially, 
"until  she  said  that,  I  had  an  idea  we  were  going 
to  a  kind  of  heathen  country.  I  was  almost  afraid 
we'd  have  to  see  a  human  sacrifice." 

"Oh,  my!  that  hasn't  been  since  the  days  of 
old— What 's-his-name.    You  get  father  to  tell  you 


THE  BEGINNING  5 

about  it.  The  Mexicans  now  are  just  as  civilised 
as  you  are.    Why,  Mexico's  a  republic." 

"Yes,  that's  so.  People  have  to  be  pretty  civi- 
lised for  that,  don't  they?"  said  Kay,  innocently. 
But  Eoy  did  not  answer,  and  from  the  hard 
breathing  she  heard  she  guessed  that  he  was 
already  at  work  stuffing  his  clothes  and  other 
belongings  into  the  bottom  of  the  trunk  they  were 
to  have  together.  Presently,  as  she  dressed,  she 
heard  a  long  sigh  and  a  grunt  that  sounded  like 
dissatisfaction.  "What's  the  matter!"  she 
asked. 

"I  just  can't  get  my  baseball  suit  in,  that's 
what's  the  matter." 

"Your  baseball  suit?"  Kay  stopped  with  her 
brush  in  her  hand,  to  look  into  the  room.  Roy  was 
kneeling  on  the  floor  before  the  trunk,  the  picture 
of  despair,  while  the  padded  suit  protruded  from 
it  at  all  four  corners  and  refused  to  be  pressed 
down  by  the  tray.  "Well,  Roy  Stevens,  if  I 
ever!"  laughed  Ray.  "Who's  going  to  play  base- 
ball with  you  down  there,  I'd  like  to  know." 

Roy's  frown  disappeared  slowly,  as  this  new 
idea  made  its  way  to  his  brain.    "Huh!"  he  said, 


6  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

"guess  I'm  crazy.  It's  a  pity,  though,  for  next 
summer  that  suit  will  be  too  small." 

"It  will  do  for  little  Ben  in  a  couple  of  years," 
said  Ray,  soothingly. 

"Course,  but  that  doesn't  do  me  any  good. 
Well,  here  goes ! ' '  and  Roy  pitched  the  puffy  gar- 
ments into  the  corner,  where  the  open  closet  partly 
caught  them. 

"Children!"  called  their  mother's  voice,  "time 
to  get  up!  There  are  lots  of  things  to  be  done 
before  the  eleven-o'clock  train." 

"We're  up,"  answered  Ray,  and  they  dressed 
in  a  hurry  and  ran  down  to  breakfast.  It  was 
hard  for  them  to  eat,  though  their  mother  re- 
minded them  that  it  would  be  a  long  time  before 
they  would  again  taste  Katy's  delicious  hot  rolls 
or  nice  croquettes.  She  kept  them  busy  all  the 
morning,  packing  and  helping  her  to  pack,  running 
on  errands,  etc.,  so  that  eleven  o'clock  came  before 
they  expected  it,  and  they  were  aboard  the  local 
train  for  New  York,  waving  their  hands  to  friends, 
neighbours,  and  servants  who  had  come  to  see 
them  off. 

"Now,  we're  going!"  exclaimed  Ray,  but  Roy 


THE  BEGINNING  7 

said, ' ' No,  we've  often  done  this  much  before.  We 
shan't  really  be  going  to  Mexico  till  we  get  on  the 
other  train.  Something  may  happen  yet."  But 
nothing  did.  They  had  luncheon  at  the  station 
with  their  big  brother,  Gilbert,  just  from  college, 
and  in  charge  of  his  father's  office  during  their 
absence,  and  their  sister  Dora,  who  was  spending 
a  few  weeks  in  the  neighbourhood  of  New  York 
with  a  friend;  and  then  the  long  train  pulled  out 
of  the  train-yards  with  two  very  excited  and 
happy  children  in  the  sleeper  Morpheus. 

As  the  children  had  never  made  any  long  jour- 
neys, they  had  never  travelled  in  a  sleeping-car, 
and  their  eyes  and  ears  were  busy  for  the  first 
hour  investigating  their  surroundings.  In  vain 
did  their  mother  call  their  attention  to  the  Pali- 
sades and  Storm  King  and  the  other  features  of 
Hudson  River  scenery;  they  were  interested  in  the 
berths  and  the  buffet.  They  wanted  to  know 
where  the  coloured  porter  kept  the  pillows  in  the 
daytime,  why  the  upper  berths  didn  't  shut  up  and 
smother  people,  how  the  cooking  and  serving 
things  could  all  be  kept  in  the  little  room  called  the 
buffet,  how  they  were  going  to  undress  at  night; 


8  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

and  they  kept  both  father  and  mother  busy 
answering  questions. 

"But,  children,  you're  missing  all  this  beautiful 
scenery,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens. 

"We'll  come  back  this  way,  shan't  we!"  asked 
Roy. 

"Yes,  I  suppose  so." 

"Well,  we'll  see  it  then.  I  think  sleeping-cars 
are  much  more  interesting  just  now.  What  are 
these  little  slots  for,  father?" 

' '  To  fasten  the  table  into  when  we  have  luncheon 
here  in  our  section.  The  table  has  only  one  leg, 
and  that  folds  up  when  it  is  not  in  use." 

"Oh,  yes,  I  see.  Are  the  screens  to  keep  out 
mosquitoes?" 

"That's  a  New  Jersey  question,  surely.  Think 
a  little  and  you  can  answer  it  yourself.  That's 
one  thing  I  want  you  and  Ray  to  learn  to  do,  this 
trip, — never  to  ask  me  or  your  mother  a  question 
until  you  have  tried  faithfully  to  answer  it  your- 
self. It  will  make  better  travellers  of  you  and 
pleasanter  company  for  us." 

Just  then  a  gust  of  smoke  from  the  engine  blew 
through  the  screen  and  sent  a  fine  black  dust  into 


THE  BEGINNING  9 

the  car.    "I  see,  it's  for  cinders!"  exclaimed  Roy, 
"but  it  can't  keep  the  dust  and  smoke  out." 

"No,  unfortunately,  and  we  shall  have  to  take 
our  share  of  those  evils." 

When  it  grew  dark,  and  the  car-lights  were 
turned  on,  Mrs.  Stevens  rang  for  the  little  table 
to  be  fixed  into  the  sockets;  the  buffet  waiter 
spread  a  clean  white  cloth  over  it  and  brought  in 
napkins  and  a  pot  of  coffee,  and  Mrs.  Stevens  pro- 
duced from  a  box  some  excellent  luncheon  she  had 
prepared  for  the  occasion. 

"I  thought  there  was  a  dining-car  on  the  train," 
said  Roy. 

"There  is,  and  we  shall  take  breakfast  in  it  in 
the  morning,"  said  his  father,  "but  as  it  is  table 
d'hote  and  one  dollar  a  head,  I  preferred  not  to 
spend  twelve  dollars  a  day  on  our  meals  when  we 
should  probably  not  eat  three  dollars'  worth  of 
food.  Later  we  shall  find  an  a  la  carte  arrange- 
ment, and  then  we  shall  use  the  dining-car  regu- 
larly." 

"What  is  the  difference?"  asked  Roy. 

" Table  d'hote  means  that  you  may  call  for 
everything  on  the  bill  of  fare  or  only  one  thing. 


10  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

as  you  choose,  but  you  must  pay  a  dollar  for  it  in 
either  case;  while  a  la  carte  (or  by  the  card) 
means  that  the  price  of  every  dish  is  given  and 
that  you  pay  for  what  you  order  and  nothing  more. 
If  you  wish  to  eat  a  long  dinner  such  as  the  table 
d'hote  provides,  it  would  cost  you  much  more  to 
pay  for  it  by  the  card;  but  if,  as  is  the  case  with 
most  travellers,  you  are  not  ravenously  hungry, 
you  can  choose  some  one  or  two  dishes  from  the 
bill  of  fare  and  make  a  less  expensive  and  an 
equally  satisfactory  meal." 

"I'm  sure  this  is  satisfactory,"  said  Ray,  fin- 
ishing a  piece  of  the  chocolate  cake  which  Katy 
had  made  that  morning. 

"We  could  have  had  something  from  the  little 
cupboard  in  this  car,  couldn't  we?"  said  Roy. 

"You  mean  the  buffet?  Yes,  our  coffee  was 
made  there,  but  it  wasn't  very  good.  Buffet  food 
as  a  rule  is  not  appetising." 

"Don't  you  like  sleeping-cars,  mother?  I  do," 
said  Ray. 

"Well,  my  dear,  to  tell  you  the  truth,  I'm  not 
as  fond  of  them  as  of  my  own  room  and  my  own 
bed  at  home,  but  I  can  generally  manage  to  make 


THE  BEGINNING  11 

myself  comfortable  and  to  sleep  pretty  well.  The 
motion  of  the  train  on  a  good  road-bed  gets  to  be 
rather  a  help  to  sleeping." 

"Like  a  cradle?"  asked  Say. 

"Yes,  or  like  the  rocking  of  a  ship." 

It  was  not  long  after  the  clearing  away  of  the 
supper-table,  before  the  porter  began  to  make  up 
the  berths.  The  children  watched  him  with  atten- 
tive eyes,  and  soon  knew  just  the  order  in  which 
he  did  the  various  things  in  the  bed-making 
process. 

"Porter,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  "whenever  you're 
ready. ' ' 

"Yes,  sir,  jus'  as  soon  as  I  put  dis  lady  to 
baid,"  said  the  porter,  making  the  children 
laugh. 

"He  talked  just  as  if  she  were  a  baby,"  said 
Ray. 

At  last  their  turn  came.  The  first  thing  Roy 
noticed  as  he  drew  aside  the  curtains  was  that  the 
berth  was  made  up  with  the  head  toward  the  loco- 
motive. "What's  that  for,  father?"  he  asked. 
"I  should  think  it  would  be  the  other  way.  Oh, 
I  forgot, — I  asked  you  that  without  thinking  first. 


12  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

Let  me  see."    But  he  could  not  think  of  a  reason, 
so  his  father  told  him. 

"One  reason  is  that  you  are  not  in  so  much 
danger  of  catching  cold.  As  the  air  enters  by  the 
screen  or  through  the  cracks  of  the  window,  it 
passes  by  your  head  and  chest  without  striking 
them;  and  if  you  slept  with  your  head  the  other 
way  it  would  fly  right  at  the  head  and  throat. 
Some  people,  too,  have  a  theory  that  with  the  head 
this  way  the  blood  is  driven  from  the  brain  by 
the  motion  of  the  train,  and  that  therefore  one 
sleeps  better.  But  the  other  is  a  better  reason 
and  all  we  need,  I  think." 

"I  should  think,"  said  Ray,  "that  they  wouldn't 
put  so  much  carving  and  things  on  these  cars,  and 
would  have  a  bigger  dressing-room  for  the  women 
and  little  girls.  There  was  another  lady  there 
when  we  were,  and  we  kept  hitting  each  other  all 
the  time,  and  there  was  only  one  hook  to  hang  any- 
thing on,  and  she  had  that,  so  we  had  to  put  my 
clothes  on  the  floor.  I'd  rather  have  a  bigger 
place  and  not  have  it  so  ornamental." 

For  a  half-hour  or  so,  it  was  hard  for  the 
children  to  get  to  sleep,  with  the  unaccustomed 


THE  BEGINNING  13 

surroundings,  the  motion,  the  noise,  the  occasional 
stopping  and  starting,  and  the  novelty  of  such  a 
bed,  but  by  the  time  their  father  and  mother  came 
to  their  respective  berths,  both  Roy  and  Ray  were 
sound  asleep  and  dreaming  of  the  wonders  in 
store  for  them. 


CHAPTER  II 

TO  "SAN  ANTONE" 

The  next  morning,  the  children  were  awake  so 
early  that  they  got  quite  tired  lying  still  until  it 
was  time  for  them  to  get  up.  Their  mother  let 
them  rise  and  dress  as  early  as  was  at  all  conven- 
ient, and  though  the  train  flung  them  about  more 
or  less  while  they  were  dressing,  they  managed  to 
look  almost  as  well  as  the  day  before.  Roy  espe- 
cially looked  forward  with  much  interest  to  break- 
fast in  the  dining-car.  There  was  something  in 
the  idea  of  eating  at  a  table  and  travelling  at  the 
same  time  which  seemed  very  attractive  to  him, 
and  when  he  looked  over  the  bill  of  fare  and  then 
unfolded  his  napkin,  he  heaved  a  sigh  of  satis- 
faction. And  he  discussed  his  grape  fruit,  his 
cereal,  and  his  broiled  chop  so  slowly  that  the 
family  all  laughed  at  him  and  said  he  was  trying 
to  get  his  dollar's  worth.  As  there  was  very  little 
of  interest  to  see  from  the  car-window  on  this 

14 


TO  "SAN  ANTONE"  15 

second  day,  the  children  began  to  observe  t heir 

fellow-passengers.  There  were  two  college  boys  in 
whom  Roy  took  an  interest,  as  he  heard  them 
comparing  the  athletics  of  freshwater  and  sea- 
board colleges.  Suddenly  one  of  them  leaned  for- 
ward and  grasped  the  other's  hand  most  affection- 
ately, and  as  the  other  looked  at  him  in  surprise, 
he  said,  "I  just  noticed  that  design  on  your 
cuff-buttons,"  and  then  he  put  his  left  hand  also 
around  the  other's  hand  and  shook  hands  as  if  he 
had  found  a  long-lost  brother.  They  gazed  at  each 
other,  quite  unable  to  express  in  words  their 
feelings  at  finding  they  belonged  to  the  same  fra- 
ternity, and  Roy  thought  it  was  beautiful  and 
longed  for  the  day  when  he  should  be  old  enough 
to  join  one.  Ray  found  great  fascination  in  a 
young  Mexican  lady  who  fanned  very  dexterously 
with  two  fans,  one  in  each  hand,  when  the  day 
grew  warm.  She  tried  it  herself  with  her  own 
and  her  mother's  fan,  but  she  was  not  very  skilful 
and  only  managed  to  hit  herself  on  the  nose  con- 
tinually. The  Mexican  senorita  was  very  pretty, 
with  dark  eyes  and  a  great  deal  of  dark  hair,  pink 
cheeks  and  white  teeth,  and  a  very  soft  voice  and 


16  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

charming  laugh.  She  spoke  very  little  English, 
but  as  several  Americans  in  the  car  who  lived  in 
Mexico  could  speak  Spanish  with  her,  she  did  not 
lack  for  company,  especially  as  she  had  with  her 
her  brother,  who  had  been  studying  at  a  Northern 
college.  Bay  did  her  best  to  pick  up  a  little 
Spanish  by  listening,  but  could  not  get  further 
than  "Si  (see),"  meaning  yes,  which  she  already 
knew.  The  day  grew  very  warm,  and  when 
luncheon  time  came,  the  children  cared  for  nothing 
but  fruit.  They  had  looked  at  pictures  and  read 
from  the  magazines,  looked  out  the  windows  and 
observed  their  neighbours,  taken  short  naps  and 
nibbled  at  a  box  of  candy,  and  now  they  were 
entirely  out  of  occupation.  ' '  I  feel  just  like  grand- 
mother's  parrot  when  she  whines,  'What  does 
Polly  want?'  "  said  Ray.  "I've  done  everything 
I  can  think  of  and  I  can't  sleep  any  more, — can 
you  tell  us  what  to  do,  mother?" 

"I  think  father  is  getting  something  ready  for 
you,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens.  "Just  wait  awhile  and 
you'll  see."  And  for  some  time,  indeed,  Mr. 
Stevens  had  been  writing  very  industriously  on  a 
large  sheet  of  paper.    Now  he  began  to  fold  it  into 


TO  "SAN   ANTONE"  17 

squares  and  to  cut  the  squares  apart  with  liis 
pocket  scissors.    Presently  be  spread  the  Bquar< 

out  on  the  little  tabic  which  the  porter  had  brought 
him,  and  began  to  shuffle  them  like  cards.  "Come 
and  play  my  new  game — my  Mexican  game,"  he 
said,  "that  will  wake  you  up,  children.  Come, 
Helen,"  to  Mrs.  Stevens,  "it  may  be  good  for  you 
too." 

They  all  gathered  about  the  table,  to  try  the  new 
game,  and  were  soon  so  deep  in  it  that  they  almost 
forgot  the  heat.  Mr.  Stevens  had  made  a  game 
something  like  the  American  one  of  "Authors," 
but  instead  of  taking  Mexican  authors  he  had  made 
it  a  game  of  Mexican  history  to  some  extent. 
Under  the  heading  of  "Great  Aztecs"  he  had  the 
names  of  Moctezuma  and  Axayacatl  and  Cuauh- 
temoc; under  the  heading  "Early  Spanish  Ex- 
plorers" the  names  of  Cortez  and  Alvarado  and 
Cordoba,  while  under  each  of  the  headings 
' ' Mexican  rulers, "  " Mexican  generals, "  ' '  Mexican 
wars,"  "Mexican  ruins,"  "Mexican  events,"  and 
"Mexican  cities,"  he  had  supplied  the  three  items 
necessary  to  make  the  game  possible.  Eight  sets 
of  four  cards  each  made  thirty-two  cards,  giving 


18  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

each  one  of  the  party  eight  cards  to  begin  with, 
and  four  cards  made  a  book,  just  as  in  "Authors." 
If  Roy,  for  instance,  had  a  card  headed  "Mexican 
rulers ' '  and  found  under  it  the  names  of ' '  Juarez," 
"Maximilian,"  and  "Diaz,"  he  must  try  to  get 
from  the  others  the  three  cards  having  these 
names  at  the  head,  and  if  he  succeeded  he  would 
have  a  book  to  his  credit.  But  if  they  noticed  that 
he  was  calling  for  these,  they  would  see  at  once 
that  he  must  have  one  card  of  the  book  and  they 
would  try  to  get  that  away  from  him  to  help  make 
their  own  book.  Nearly  all  of  you  will  have 
played  "Authors,"  so  I  am  sure  you  will  not  need 
further  explanation ;  and  at  the  end  of  this  chapter 
you  will  find  a  copy  of  one  card  under  each  head- 
ing. Roy  and  Ray,  when  they  had  played  this 
game  several  times,  had  the  main  points  of 
Mexico's  history  so  well  fixed  in  their  minds  that 
they  scarcely  ever  made  any  mistakes,  and  found 
all  the  pictures  and  labels  in  the  Museum  and 
references  in  their  guide-book  much  more  inter- 
esting than  they  would  have  thought  them  other- 
wise. Their  father  won  the  game  the  first  time, 
and  Ray  the  second;  and  by  then  the  train  was 


TO  "SAN  ANTONE"  19 

slowing  down  as  they  entered  St.  Louis.  As  they 
were  obliged  to  leave  the  train  here  and  take 
another,  and  had  an  hour  or  two  to  spare  after 
getting  supper  in  the  dining-room  of  the  great 
station,  they  took  a  drive  out  to  the  West  End, 
which  is  the  handsome  residence  part  of  this  im- 
portant Western  city,  and  through  the  World's 
Fair  grounds  in  Forest  Park.  When  they  reached 
the  station  again  and  found  their  berths  in  a  new 
train,  Mrs.  Stevens  unpacked  their  belongings 
much  more  extensively  than  before,  for  on  this 
train  they  were  to  live  for  three  days  and  four 
nights. 

"It  will  get  to  seem  just  like  home,  won't  it?" 
said  Ray,  to  which  her  mother  could  only  reply 
"We'll  hope  so,"  for  she  did  not  enjoy  train- 
travel  in  the  summer. 

By  the  next  morning  there  was  enough  that 
was  new  in  the  scenes  they  passed  through  to 
make  the  day  more  entertaining  than  the  one 
before.  The  forlorn  little  towns  of  Arkansas, 
their  unpainted,  grey  wooden  houses  almost 
settling  into  the  ground,  the  wash-basins  or 
bowls  on  benches  out  on  the  front  "gallery,"  the 


20  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

upstairs    verandahs    on    every   two-story   house, 
the  washings  of  many  colours  strung  out  on  the 
front  fences,  the  outside  chimneys  built  of  mud, 
the  bowl-shaped  straw  sun-hats  that  some  of  the 
men  wore, — all  these  and  many  other  things  kept 
the  children  constantly  interested.    There  was  one 
one-story  hotel,  painted  red,  with  strips  of  wood 
painted  white  tacked  over  the  cracks  perpendicu- 
larly, that  the  children  said  looked  like  candy ;  and 
when  they  came  soon  after  to  Little  Rock,  the 
capital,  they  made  a  joke  that  diverted  them  very 
much,  calling  the  hotel  Little  Rock  candy.    It  does 
not  take  anything  very  funny  to  amuse  people 
who  are  ready  to  be  amused,  as  Roy  and  Ray 

were. 

It  was  in  Arkansas  that  they  first  noticed 
stations  with  separate  waiting-rooms  for  the 
coloured  people,  who  also  became  more  numerous 
than  before.  At  Texarkana,  a  name  made  from 
Texas,  Arkansas,  and  Louisiana,  because  the  town 
is  at  a  point  near  which  the  three  state  lines  meet, 
they  first  had  fruit  and  vegetables  offered  to  them 
at  the  train-windows  by  small  boys.  Some  had 
plums,  and  when  a  lady  who  had  bought  some 


TO  "SAN  ANTONE"  21 

complained  that  they  wen-  bard,  the  boy-peddler 
retorted,  "Well,  that's  the  way  they  are."  Other 
boys  had  ripe  tomatoes  and  gave  a  pinch  of  coarse 
salt  with  each  tomato,  wrapped  up  in  a  piece  of 
old  newspaper.  The  children  thought  these  very 
refreshing  and  preferred  them  to  fruit.  As  the 
time  drew  near  for  the  train  to  start,  the  peddlers 
would  come  down  in  their  prices  and  call  out, 
"Peaches,  peaches — all  I  got  for  a  nickel!"  or 
"Peaches  and  tomatoes  for  a  nickel — every- 
thing!" 

In  one  small  town  they  saw  a  public  well  with  a 
roof  over  it  and  seats  around  it,  and  in  another, 
as  indeed  in  most  of  them,  all  the  stores  had 
"porches"  as  Ray  expressed  it,  and  they  saw 
several  merchants  playing  cards  on  the  street 
corner  on  an  upturned  box,  with  their  hats  pushed 
back  and  in  their  shirt  sleeves.  These  things 
would  have  told  them  they  had  reached  the  South, 
even  if  they  had  not  known  it  from  the  heat. 
Toward  evening  they  went  through  a  small  town 
or  village  where  a  whole  calf  was  hanging  to  a 
tree  instead  of  in  a  butcher's  shop,  and  while  they 
were  wondering  at  this,  two  men  came,  one  with  a 


22  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

large  knife  with  which  he  proceeded  to  cut  off  the 
piece  of  veal  that  the  other  man  wanted.  But  the 
country  still  seemed  American,  though  their  father 
reminded  them  that  Texas  and  part  of  Arkansas 
had  once  belonged  to  Mexico.  Still  they  did  not 
really  feel  that  they  were  seeing  anything  very 
unusual  until  they  came  to  San  Antonio,  or  "San 
Antone,"  as  the  natives  call  it,  one  of  the  most 
foreign-looking  cities  in  the  United  States.  They 
reached  it  quite  early  in  the  morning,  and  having 
three  hours  to  spare,  decided  to  go  up  into  the 
town  for  breakfast  and  a  bath,  and  then  see  the 
city  by  means  of  a  drive.  As  soon  as  they  stepped 
out  of  the  train,  the  children  were  struck  with  the 
town's  unlikeness  to  anything  American.  The 
buildings  were  low,  generally  with  one  story,  and 
never  with  more  than  two,  and  built  of  adobe,  a 
sort  of  clay  found  abundantly  in  the  dryer  parts 
of  the  Southwest.  They  were  not  only  white- 
washed but  bluewashed  and  pinkwashed,  as  Roy 
put  it,  giving  a  very  gay  appearance  to  the  streets. 
The  River  San  Antonio,  which  winds  through  the 
city  and  is  crossed  by  more  than  forty  bridges, 
was  very  pretty  in  places  and  bordered  by  tropical 


TO  "SAN   AN TONE"  23 

or  semi-tropical  plants.  The  hotel  and  many  of  the 
houses  had  iron  balconies  upstairs  and  glass  doors 
opening  on  to  them,  so  that  people  could  sit  in  the 
shade  of  the  trees  on  these  balconies  and  get  the 
air  without  being  too  noticeable.  The  hotel  was 
built  in  a  hollow  square  around  a  court  where 
tropical  plants  were  growing  in  large  pots,  and 
there  was  an  air  of  great  coolness  everywhere. 
After  a  good  breakfast  and  a  bath,  Mr.  Stevens 
hired  a  carriage  and  driver  and  they  visited  the 
most  interesting  parts  of  the  city,  going  down  first 
into  the  Mexican  quarter,  where  the  poorer  people 
live.  This  quarter  is  usually  called  Chihuahua 
(Che-wah'-wah)  in  towns  which  have  a  Mexican 
population.  Here  the  people  lived  in  hovels  that 
looked  as  if  they  were  built  out  of  the  refuse  of 
lumber-yards,  tin-shops,  straw-stacks,  and  even 
rag-bags,  and  how  some  of  these  huts  could  hold 
together  it  was  hard  to  understand.  Nearly  every 
house  had  its  china-tree,  a  small  tree  whose  foliage 
grows  in  a  ball  and  gives  a  very  thick  shade. 
There  were  the  mesquite-tree,  also  small,  the 
pepper-tree  with  its  pretty  pink  berries  and  lace- 
like leaves,  and  an  occasional  fig-tree. 


24  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

The  market-place  interested  the  children  very 
much,  though  it  was  not  the  principal  market  day 
and  there  was  no  crowd.  The  people  had  very  few 
of  their  fruits  and  vegetables  in  measures,  having 
them  arranged  instead  in  little  piles  on  the 
ground  at  so  much  a  pile.  There  were  sheaves  of 
sugar-cane,  also,  the  first  the  children  had  seen. 
Mrs.  Stevens  wished  to  take  the  picture  of  a  little 
girl  who  was  superintending  some  of  the  heaps, 
and  her  father  willingly  allowed  it ;  but  when  she 
turned  to  take  a  snapshot  of  a  man  carrying  a 
great  basket  strapped  on  his  back  by  a  band  across 
his  forehead,  the  man  began  to  run  and  she  had  to 
give  it  up.  ' '  I  suppose  he  thinks  something  dread- 
ful will  happen  to  him  if  I  get  his  picture,"  she 
said.  "They  say  many  of  the  people  are  very 
superstitious  and  think  the  camera  is  as  bad  as 
the  'evil  eye.'  " 

; "What's  the  evil  eye?"  asked  Boy. 

;  Among  most  savage  or  half-civilised  people 
and  even  among  the  most  ignorant  of  civilised 
people,  such  as  the  Italian  peasants,  there  is  a 
general  belief  that  certain  persons  have  the  evil 
eye;  that  is,  if  their  attention  is  attracted  to  and 


l  c 


i  i 


TO  "SAN   ANTONE" 

fixed  on  any  person,  something  evil  will  happen  to 
that  person.  And  in  this  belief,  they  wear  charms 
and  amulets  to  ward  off  the  danger." 

At  the  Cathedral,  they  all  got  out  of  the  car- 
riage and  went  in  for  a  few  minutes.  Mass  was 
about  to  be  celebrated  and  the  church  bells  were 
ringing  musically.  The  congregation  was  chiefly 
Mexicans  (i.  e.,  mixed  Spanish  and  Indian)  and 
Indians,  with  a  few  white  people.  The  women 
were  nearly  all  in  sunbonnets,  though  there  were 
a  very  few  mantillas  and  the  black  shawls  that 
take  the  place  of  mantillas  in  Mexico.  Every 
woman  seemed  to  have  a  fan  and  to  keep  it  going. 
The  back  of  the  Cathedral  was  very  old,  with 
massive  walls,  and  the  driver  said  it  dated  back  to 
1744. 

The  children  were  so  surprised  to  find  so 
foreign-looking  a  town  in  the  United  States  that 
they  asked  their  father  for  an  explanation,  and 
when  they  entered  the  Alamo,  which  had  been 
successively  a  church  or  convent,  a  fort  and  a 
prison,  and  was  now  a  historical  show-place,  they 
all  sat  down  for  a  few  minutes  while  he  told  them 
a  little  of  the  history  of  San  Antonio. 


GAME    OF    MEXICAN    HISTORY 

(Specimen    Cards) 


GREAT  AZTECS 

Moctezuma  II,  killed 
1521 

Axayacatl 

Cuauhtemoc,    succes- 
sor of  Moctezuma 


EARLY  SPANISH 
EXPLORERS 

Francisco  Hernandez 
de  Cordoba,  arrived 
1517 

Pedro  de  Alvarado,  ar- 
rived 1518 

Hernando  Cortez,  ar- 
rived 1519,  died 
1547 


MEXICAN  RULERS 

Benito  Juarez,  1859- 
1872 

Maximilian,  Archduke 
of  Austria,  1864-67 

Porfirio   Diaz,    1877- 
80, 1884  date 


L 


MEXICAN  GEN- 
ERALS 

Agustin  de  Yturbide, 
War  of  Independ- 
ence 

Antonio  Lopez  de 
Santa  Anna,  War  of 
independence  and 
Mexican  War 

Mariano  Escobedo, 
War  against  Maxi- 
milian 


MEXICAN  WARS 

War  of  Independence, 
1810-23 

War  with  U.  8.,  1846- 
48 

War    against    Maxi- 
milian, 1867 


MEXICAN  EVENTS 

Final  entry  of  Span- 
ish into  City  of  Mex- 
ico, 1521 

Uprising  against 
Spain,  Sept.  16, 1810 

Adoption  of  Republi- 
can constitution, 
1823 


MEXICAN  RUINS 

Mitla  (Oaxaca) 

Palenque  (Chiapas) 

Cholula,   Pyramid   of 
(Puebla) 


MEXICAN  CITIES 

City  of  Mexioo  (Mex- 
ico), population, 
400,000 

Guadalajara  (Jalisco), 
125,000 

Puebla  (Puebla),  100,- 
000 


CHAPTER  III 
ACROSS  THE  BORDER 

"Formerly,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  "Mexico  owned 
all  that  part  of  the  United  States  south  of  the  Red 
and  the  Arkansas  rivers  and  west  to  the  coast, 
covering  a  large  part  of  California.  This  part  of 
the  country  was  but  thinly  settled  with  Mexicans, 
however,  while,  so  far  as  Texas  was  concerned, 
Americans  were  continually  moving  into  the 
district  and  securing  grants  of  land  from  the 
Mexican  government.  For  a  long  time  they  were 
welcome  because  they  occupied  and  developed  the 
country  and  made  no  trouble;  but  when,  in  1835, 
under  the  American,  Sam  Houston,  they  were  so 
numerous  and  so  aggressive  as  to  be  able  to  de- 
clare themselves  and  the  country  independent  of 
Mexico,  the  affair  took  on  a  different  appearance." 

"Did  we  back  them  up?"  asked  Roy,  anxiously. 

"You'll  see,"  replied  his  father.  "General 
Santa  Anna,  whose  name  you  had  in  your  Mexican 

27 


28  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

game  yesterday,  was  sent  north  to  put  down  this 
revolution,  and  there  was  a  great  deal  of  fighting. 
The  Texans  were  entrenched  in  this  building,  the 
Alamo,  then  a  church." 

"What  does  Alamo  mean!"  interrupted  Ray. 

"It  is  the  word  for  cottonwood,  a  kind  of  poplar, 
and  the  church  of  the  Alamo  probably  stood  orig- 
inally in  the  midst  of  those  trees,  "said  her  father; 
then,  resuming  his  story,  ' '  The  Texans  were  under 
the  command  of  General  Travis,  and  were  con- 
quered and  massacred  by  the  Mexican  forces  on 
March  6,  1836.     Yrou  have  just  had  pointed  out 
to  you  the  places  where  Crockett  and  Bowie  were 
killed.      'Remember    the    Alamo!'    became    the 
Texans'   watchword.     They   had   another   defeat 
less  than  a  month  later  when  six  hundred  of  them 
were  killed.    In  April,  however,  Santa  Anna  was 
defeated  and  taken  prisoner,  and  as  he  was  then 
the  president  and  the  principal  general  of  Mexico, 
tli is  brought  the  war  for  Texan  independence  to 
an  end.    For  eight  years,  until  1844,  Texas  was  an 
independent  republic,  and  had  the  recognition,  as 
such,  of  the  United  States  and  Europe,  though  not 
of  Mexico." 


ACROSS  THE  BORDER  29 

"Oh!"  exclaimed  Roy,  "now  I  understand! 
Isn't  that  why  they  call  Texas  the  Lone  Star  State, 
because  it  stood  all  by  itself  once?" 

"That  is  just  the  reason.  During  its  brief 
career  as  a  republic,  a  single  blue  star  in  a  ground 
of  white  silk  was  its  banner,  and  its  seal  was  a 
white  star  surrounded  by  liveoak  and  olive 
branches  on  a  blue  ground.  The  state  still  uses 
this  seal.  In  1S44,  Texas  petitioned  to  be  admitted 
to  the  United  States  as  a  state,  and  being  settled 
by  Americans  chiefly  this  was  almost  a  foregone 
conclusion.  Mexico,  seeing,  very  naturally,  bad 
faith  in  this  way  of  annexing  a  part  of  her  terri- 
tory, protested,  particularly  as  she  believed  that 
it  had  been  what  we  call  'a  put-up  job'  from  the 
beginning.  Other  countries,  knowing  the  United 
States  to  be  much  the  stronger  of  the  two,  did  not 
interfere,  and  so  the  Mexican  War  began." 

"I  think  it  was  a  shame,"  said  Kay,  indignantly. 

"It  was  just  like  stealing  from  your  next-door 
neighbour,"  said  Roy. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  "there  were  a  great 
many  Americans  at  the  time  who  felt  so  and  pro- 
tested, but  in  vain.    General  Ulysses  Grant  was  a 


30  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

young  soldier  in  our  army  during  this  war,  and  he 
has  left  on  record  his  opinion  that  it  was  'one  of 
the  most  unjust  wars  ever  waged  by  a  stronger 
against  a  weaker  nation.'  It  was  certainly  a  piece 
of  Yankee  sharp  practice,  and  is  perhaps  the  one 
war  in  which  our  country  has  been  engaged  for 
which  it  has  had  reason  to  blush. 

' '  The  first  battle  of  the  war  took  place  in  April, 
1846,  and  until  May  18th  all  the  fighting  was  in 
Texas.  Then  General  Zachary  Taylor,  head  of 
the  American  forces,  afterward  President  of  the 
United  States,  crossed  into  Mexico.  The  battles 
of  Monterey  (Mon-tay-ray')  and  Buena  Vista 
(Bway'-na  Vis'-ta)  followed,  both  American  vic- 
tories, and  the  town  of  Chihuahua  was  taken ;  and 
at  the  same  time  the  government  at  Washington 
was  instigating  a  revolution  in  California,  also 
Mexican  territory.  In  August  the  Americans 
under  Stockton  and  Kearney  took  possession  of 
California." 

"Poor  Mexico  was  losing  everywhere,  wasn't 
she?"  said  Ray. 

"General  Winfield  Scott  headed  the  expedition 
against  the  City  of  Mexico,  the  capital,  and  won 


ACROSS  THE  BORDER  31 

victories  in  the  battles  of  Cerro  Gordo,  Padierna, 
and  Churubusco.  You  will  find  all  these  places 
on  the  map,  and  we  will  look  them  up  together 
presently.  The  battles  of  Molino  delRey  (Mo-lee'- 
no  del  Ray:  the  King's  Mill) — and,  by  the  way, 
the  old  mill  is  still  standing — and  of  Casa  Mata, 
took  place  on  the  8th  of  September.  The  saddest 
event  of  the  war  was  the  storming  of  the  Castle 
of  Chapultepec,  only  a  mile  from  the  city,  on  the 
12th  and  13th.  This  was  occupied  then,  as  it  is 
now  in  part,  as  a  military  school,  and  the  young 
cadets  helped  nobly  to  defend  it,  several  losing 
their  lives  in  the  struggle.  A  monument  to  them 
stands  at  the  base  of  the  rock  on  which  the  castle 
is  built,  and  we  shall  see  the  inscription  when  we 
go  out  there.  The  Mexican  families  whose  sons 
were  in  this  engagement  were  very  proud  of  them, 
and  every  year  the  monument  is  hung  with  gar- 
lands." 

"I  think  the  United  States  was  in  pretty  poor 
business  to  fight  boys,"  exclaimed  Roy,  while 
Ray's  eyes  filled  with  tears. 

"lam  glad  to  say,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  "that  a 
recent  xlmerican  ambassador  to  Mexico  sent  some 


32  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

very  beautiful  wreaths  to  be  placed  on  the  monu- 
ment at  the  time  of  the  annual  decoration,  which 
pleased  the  Mexican  people  very  much.  And 
when  the  treaty  was  signed,  at  the  close  of  the  war 
(it  was  called  the  Treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo— 
Gwah-da-lu'-pay  He-dal'-go),  the  United  States 
paid  Mexico  $15,000,000  for  all  the  territory  north 
and  east  of  the  Rio  Grande-  (Ree'-o  Gran'-day). 
Since  then,  the  great  river,  which  is  what  the  name 
Rio  Grande  means,  has  been  the  boundary  between 
the  two  republics." 

"Do  the  Mexicans  just  hate  us,  ever  since?' 

asked  Ray. 

"No,  I  do  not  think  they  do.  Nations  very 
seldom  hate  one  another  as  a  whole,  fortunately, 
and  Mexico  has  prospered  so  and  is  so  large  a 
country  even  without  the  territory  we  took  from 
her,  that  she  holds  higher  and  higher  rank  among 
nations  as  time  goes  on,  and  can  afford  to  forget 
past  injustice.  Americans  living  in  Mexico  seem 
very  happy,  and  the  law-abiding  class  get  along 
amicably  with  the  native  citizens." 

Ray  gave  a  sigh  of  relief.  "Roy,  let  us  buy 
some  flowers,  too,  to  put  on  the  monument,"  she 


ACROSS  THE  BORDER  33 

said,  and  Roy  nodded  soberly.  It  was  the  first 
time  it  had  occurred  to  him  that  his  country  could 
be  in  the  wrong. 

After  this  little  talk,  the  children  went  the 
rounds  of  the  Alamo  once  more,  noting  its  thick 
walls  and  grated  windows,  the  fig-tree  looking  in 
at  one  window  and  the  morning-glory  vine  draping 
another.  They  examined  with  interest  the  pic- 
tures on  the  walls,  of  the  Americans  who  had  been 
in  the  defence  of  the  building,  and  read  the  his- 
torical documents  framed  and  hung  about,  every- 
where. This  was  a  fine  way  to  study  American 
history,  they  thought. 

It  was  time  to  go  to  the  train,  and  they  were 
soon  speeding  on  through  Texas,  calling  each 
other's  attention  to  the  increasing  growth  of 
cactus,  and  to  the  chaparral,  thickets  of  mesquite, 
etc.,  the  only  vegetation  of  these  dry  plains.  Once 
they  were  much  diverted  by  an  old  freight-car 
which  was  being  occupied  as  a  home  by  a  Mexican 
family.  The  son,  a  boy  of  about  Roy's  age,  stood 
in  the  doorway  with  a  red  and  green  parrot  on  his 
shoulder,  and  waved  his  hand  at  the  children  as 
they  passed.    For  some  time  before  they  reached 


34  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

the  Mexican  border,  they  saw  the  thatched  huts 
that  became  so  familiar  to  them  the  next  day  in 
northern  Mexico.  These  huts  were  built  some- 
times of  adobe  and  sometimes  of  wood,  and 
thatched  with  the  dried  leaves  of  the  yucca. 

When  the  train  stopped  at  Laredo  (Lah-ray'-do), 
on  the  American  side  of  the  Rio  Grande,  the  Mexi- 
can customs  officials  came  aboard  the  train  and 
examined  all  the  hand-baggage  the  passengers  had 
with  them,  looking  at  it  very  carelessly  and  putting 
a  black  mark  on  the  outside  of  every  package  to 
show  that  it  had  been  examined.  The  children 
watched  them  with  great  interest,  but  were  soon 
diverted  by  the  view  of  the  Rio  Grande  as  they 
crossed  the  long  bridge  leading  into  Mexico.  The 
river  was  very  wide  and  seemed  rather  low  and 
full  of  sandbars,  for  though  it  was  past  the  end  of 
the  dry  season  the  rains  had  not  yet  had  time  to 
fill  it  up.  On  either  side,  the  country  was  covered 
with  green  foliage  and  dotted  with  white  houses, 
and  the  sky  was  very  blue,  with  little  white  clouds 
floating  about.    It  was  a  beautiful  picture. 

Before  reaching  Laredo  a  new  official  had 
boarded  the  train,  the  "passenger's  assistant,"  an 


ACROSS  THE  BORDER  35 

American  in  uniform,  whose  duty  it  was  to  help 
those  passengers  who  might  have  trouble  in  get- 
ting their  baggage  into  Mexico  on  account  of  their 
ignorance  of  Spanish  or  who  might  wish  to  change 
American  money  into  Mexican.  As  Roy  and  Ray 
had  charge  of  their  own  trunk,  their  father 
promised  to  let  them  see  it  through  the  customs, 
and  the  children  awaited  developments  in  great 
excitement.  When  they  left  the  car  at  Nuevo 
(Nway'-vo)  Laredo  on  the  Mexican  side  of  the 
river,  they  found  their  trunk  with  the  other  bag- 
gage in  a  room  in  the  station.  Roy  watched  other 
people  for  a  moment  and  saw  that  the  thing  to 
do  was  to  get  hold  of  an  inspector,  but  as  there 
seemed  to  be  very  few  in  uniform  and  all  these 
were  busy,  he  hardly  knew  what  to  do.  Suddenly 
a  rather  ragged  Mexican  boy  of  his  own  age 
plucked  his  sleeve  and  pointed  to  the  trunk  with 
an  inquiring  look  which  said  plainly,  "Is  this 
yours?"  Roy  nodded  his  head  and  showed  his 
key.  The  boy  took  it,  beckoned  to  a  middle-aged 
woman  who  stood  near,  opened  the  trunk  and  took 
out  the  trays,  one  by  one.  The  woman  ran  her 
hand  into  the  trunk,  around  the  sides  and  corners, 


36  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

and  did  the  same  with  the  trays,  and  signified  by 
a  sign  that  she  was  satisfied  it  was  all  right.  So 
the  children  decided  that  she  was  a  government 
inspector.  When  the  trunk  was  locked  again,  Roy 
was  about  to  give  the  boy  a  few  cents  for  his 
trouble,  but  the  boy  shook  his  head  and  waved  his 
hand  toward  the  other  end  of  the  room  where  the 
baggage  was  being  rechecked.  Then,  with  all  his 
small  strength,  he  dragged  the  trunk  over,  took 
Roy's  check  and  exchanged  it  for  two  checks  of  the 
Mexican  National  Railroad,  one  of  which  he  fas- 
tened on  the  trunk,  giving  the  other  to  Roy,  and  his 
duty  was  done.  He  then  held  out  his  hand,  indicat- 
ing that  he  was  now  ready  for  his  fee,  and  Roy, 
who  had  put  his  money  away,  now  got  it  out  again 
and  gave  it  to  him,  a  little  puzzled.  Resolving, 
however,  not  to  ask  his  father  the  reason  for  this 
strange  behaviour  until  he  had  tried  to  find  his 
own  explanation,  he  spent  some  time  in  thinking 
over  the  matter.  It  finally  occurred  to  him  that 
Mexico,  like  the  United  States,  probably  forbade 
its  customs  officials  to  take  fees,  so  that  the -boy 
could  not  take  any  money  for  the  inspection;  but 
as  he  was  not  obliged  to  recheck  the  trunk,  and  did 


ACROSS  THE  BORDER  37 

it  as  a  favour,  he  could  properly  receive  a  fee  for 
that.  And  I  think  that  this  was  probably  the  cor- 
rect explanation. 

When  they  had  started  on  again,  Ray  said, 
"Well,  I  don't  see  why  we  need  to  speak  Spanish, 
if  it  is  all  as  easy  as  that.  Why,  Roy  and  that  boy 
knew  just  as  well  what  they  both  meant  as  if  they  • 
had  been  talking,  and  neither  of  them  said  a 
word." 

"The  Mexicans  are  like  the  Italians  and  the 
French — like  all  the  Latin  races — in  being  able  to 
express  a  great  deal  by  looks  and  gestures,  and  in 
understanding  very  easily  the  expression  of  the 
face  in  others.  If  they  were  not  so  quick,  a  person 
who  could  not  speak  any  Spanish  would  sometimes 
be  at  a  great  disadvantage  down  here,"  said  Mr. 
Stevens. 

"How  much  did  you  pay  the  boy,  Roy?"  asked 
his  mother. 

"I  gave  him  ten  cents,"  said  Roy.  "Wasn't 
that  right?" 

"Of  American  money?" 

"Yes,  I  hadn't  any  other." 

"Then  you  really  gave  him  twenty  cents,  for 


38  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

our  money  is  worth  twice  theirs;  and  he  would 
probably  have  been  entirely  satisfied  with  one- 
fourth  the  amount,  or  five  cents  of  Mexican  cur- 
rency," said  Mrs.  Stevens. 

"He  didn't  do  the  work  very  well,"  said  Ray, 
"because  Roy  and  I  went  back  and  tried  the  trunk 
and  he  hadn't  locked  it  at  all,  and  if  we  hadn't 
thought  to  go  back  anybody  could  have  opened  it 
by  just  undoing  the  straps." 

' '  The  Mexicans  are  not  very  good  in  mechanics, 
and  he  probably  did  not  understand  the  lock," 
said  Mrs.  Stevens.  Then,  turning  to  her  husband, 
"I  think,  Horace,  the  children  should  have  some 
instruction  in  Mexican  money,  now  that  you  have 
some  to  show  them." 

"That's  true,"  said  her  husband,  taking  from 
his  pocket  a  handful  of  coins,  large  and  small, 
among  which  was  one  about  the  size  of  an  Ameri- 
can dollar,  "as  big  as  a  dinner-plate,"  Roy  said. 
"This  is  the  Mexican  dollar  or  peso  (pay'-so)," 
said  Mr.  Stevens,  "and  it  is  worth  fifty  cents  of 
our  money." 

"Why  isn't  their  money  as  good  as  ours?" 
asked  Ray. 


ACROSS  THE  BORDER  39 

"My  dear,  you  will  get  me  into  a  lecture  on 
political  economy,  if  you  insist  on  my  answering 
that  question,"  said  her  father,  "but  one  of  these 
days,  if  you  will  remind  me,  I  will  try  to  have  an 
explanation  for  you  in  as  simple  a  form  as 
possible. 

"The  Mexicans  reckon  things  largely  in  reales 
(ray-ahl'-es).  The  real  is  equal  to  12>4  cents. 
There  is  really  no  such  coin,  but  two  reals,  or  dos 
reales,  make  the  quarter,  cuatro  (qua'-tro)  reales, 
or  four  reals,  the  half-dollar;  and  ocho  reales,  or 
eight  reals,  the  dollar  or  peso.  Below  the  real, 
they  have  three  denominations,  the  centavo,  the 
quartilla  (quar-tee'-ya),  and  the  medio  (may'- 
dee-o),  and  the  coins  are  a  twenty-centavo  piece  in 
nickel,  a  ten-centavo  and  a  five-centavo  piece  in  sil- 
ver, and  the  copper  centavo  like  a  big  penny.  The 
quartilla  is  three  centavos,  and  the  medio  six.  As 
their  money,  like  our  own,  is  based  on  the  decimal 
system,  it  is  very  easy  for  Americans  to  under- 
stand, and  now  that  the  rate  of  exchange  is  fixed 
at  one-half,  and  the  Mexican  dollar  is  worth 
exactly  half  the  American  dollar,  it  is  no  trouble 
at  all  for  us  to  calculate  from  Mexican  into  Ameri- 


40  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

can  money  or  vice-versa.  Sometimes  the  people 
down  here  say  'Two  dollars  gold,'  which  is  the 
same  as  to  say  'Two  dollars  American  money,'  and 
'Two  dollars  silver'  means  'Two  dollars  Mexi- 
can.' " 

' '  Did  you  notice  what  it  was  they  pasted  on  the 
trunks  at  the  custom-house,  children?"  asked 
their  father,  as  they  ate  their  supper. 

"A  piece  of  white  paper,"  answered  Ray, 
quickly. 

" Yes,  but  what  did  it  say?" 

"I  know,"  said  Roy,  "wait  a  minute  while  I 
think.    It  was  re — re — oh,  I  know — reconocido." 

"Yes,  reconocido  (ray-co-no-see'-do), — the  Mex- 
icans do  not  pronounce  the  soft  c  like  th  as  the 
Spaniards  do.  It  means  examined.  And  aduana 
(ah-doo-ah'-na)  means  customs.  I  want  you  both 
to  read  as  many  Spanish  signs  and  notices  as  pos- 
sible, for  a  traveller  who  can  read  what  he  sees 
posted  up  in  various  places  has  a  great  advantage 
over  one  who  can  not,  or,  at  least,  does  not.  It 
saves  asking  questions  of  people  who  cannot  un- 
derstand you  and  whom  you  could  not  understand 
if  they  answered  you.    You  have  heard  the  story 


ACROSS  THE  BORDER  41 

of  the  man  who  was  travelling  in  Germany  with- 
out knowing  the  language  ? ' ' 

"No,  no!"  cried  the  children,  eager  always  for 
a  story. 

"Well,  it  seems  he  was  on  a  train  going  to  a 
town  he  had  never  seen,  so  he  had  to  depend  on 
some  one  to  tell  him  when  he  got  there.  The  train 
stopped  at  the  town  finally,  but  the  man  was  not 
sure  of  it,  and  he  called  to  the  guard,  'Is  this 
Wurzburg?'  or  whatever  it  was.  ' Aussteigen,' 
said  the  guard.  'Aussteigen,  is  it?  'Not  Wiirz- 
burg,  then,'  said  the  traveller,  and  he  settled  back 
in  his  corner  and  was  carried  on.  He  did  not  know 
that  aussteigen  meant  'get  out'  or  'get  off,'  and 
thought  it  the  name  of  another  town." 

"Wasn't  he  a  goose!"  exclaimed  Ray. 

"A  great  many  geese  travel,  my  dear,  but  don't 
you  be  one  of  them,"  said  Mr.  Stevens. 


CHAPTER  IV 
MEXICO  AT  LAST 

The  next  day  was  spent  in  the  northern  states 
of  Mexico,  and  toward  evening  the  mountains  be- 
came more  rugged  and  the  scenery  was  some- 
times strikingly  grand.  The  children  had  hardly 
reached  the*  age  when  scenery  made  much  impres- 
sion on  them,  and  they  left  this  part  of  the  journey 
to  be  enjoyed  by  their  parents ;  but  they  were  very 
observing,  and  everything  that  was  different  from 
what  they  had  been  accustomed  to,  in  the  country 
or  the  people,  caught  their  attention  and  excited 
their  interest. 

I  forgot  to  mention  that  at  one  of  the  stations 
after  leaving  Nuevo  Laredo,  they  had  several 
kinds  of  grapes  offered  them  at  the  car  window, 
and  had  found  them  delicious,  with  a  half-wild 
flavour,  especially  in  the  small  white  grapes,  which 
they  all  liked  very  much.  It  seemed  strange  to 
have  grapes  as  early  as  the  last  week  in  June,  but 

42 


? 


3 


■A 


O 

U 

M 

91 

O 


MEXICO  AT  LAST  43 

their  father  said  it  was  only  the  beginning  of  the 
strange  things  that  they  would  meet  in  the  vege- 
table kingdom  of  Mexico. 

The  mountains  really  began  almost  as  soon  as 
they  entered  Mexico,  but  they  lay  far  off  on  the 
horizon,  and  all  the  next  day  until  late  afternoon 
the  train  passed  through  what  seemed  almost  a 
desert.  Everywhere  the  cactus  and  the  yucca 
occupied  the  soil.  The  huts  of  the  people  along 
the  railway,  except  some  brick  and  adobe  ones 
built  by  the  railroad  company  at  the  stations,  were 
chiefly  of  timber  from  the  yucca,  with  a  thatch  of 
the  leaves.  The  adobe  huts  were  much  better,  but 
glimpses  of  the  interiors  were  rather  disappoint- 
ing, as  the  housekeeping  of  the  women  was  not 
satisfactory,  according  to  American  ideas.  In  the 
chill  of  the  early  morning,  they  sat  on  their  door- 
steps to  see  the  train  come  in, — the  great  event  of 
the  day, — barefooted,  but  wrapped  to  the  lips  in 
their  long,  rectangular  shawls,  called  rebozos 
(ray-bo'-zos),  and  barefooted  children  with  dogs, 
pigs,  goats,  and  chickens,  stood  in  groups  about 
them  as  if  all  held  equal  place  in  the  family.  In- 
deed, at  one  place,  a  mother  pig  and  her  little  ones, 


U  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

frightened  at  the  noise  made  by  the  train,  turned 
and  rushed  headlong  into  the  house,  past  the  mis- 
tress, who  stood  on  the  doorstep  and  did  nothing 
to  hinder  them.  The  dog  lay  still  and  looked  after 
them  as  if  with  contempt  at  their  cowardice. 

"I  wonder  where  those  three  men  were  going 
that  got  off  at  the  first  station  this  morning,"  said 
Ray,  as  they  ate  breakfast.  "They  got  off  the  car 
ahead,  marked  Terceraclase  (ter-say'-ra  clah'-say: 
third-class),  and  they  all  had  musical  instru- 
ments in  cases.  They  didn't  stop  at  the  station, 
but  struck  off  into  the  country;  and  I  couldn't  see 
anywhere  for  them  to  go." 

"Yes,"  said  Roy,  "and  I  saw  a  man  coming  on 
horseback  from  away  off  somewhere;  and  I 
couldn't  see  any  place  for  him  to  come  from.'''' 

"There  are  towns  all  through  Mexico,"  said 
Mr.  Stevens,  getting  out  his  map  and  showing 
them,  "that  are  miles  from  any  railroad.  When  a 
railroad  goes  through  one  of  our  states,  we  do  our 
best  to  make  it  go  through  our  own  town,  and  if 
not  that,  as  near  as  possible;  and  then  our  town 
begins  to  build  out  and  extend  toward  the  railroad 
until  it  reaches  it,  or,  at  least,  we  run  a  trolley-line 


MEXICO  AT  LAST  45 

over  to  it.    But  the  Mexicans  are  not  so  enterpris- 
ing and  do  not  try  to  get  near  the  railroads." 

"What  do  these  cattle  find  to  eat?"  asked  Mrs. 
Stevens.  "I  see  flocks  of  sheep  and  herds  of 
cattle,  and  some  horses  now  and  then,  and  they 
seem  to  be  grazing  on  something ;  but  this  vegeta- 
tion looks  very  dry." 

"It  is  very  much  the  sort  of  grazing  they  have 
on  some  of  our  western  and  southwestern  plains," 
said  Mr.  Stevens,  "and  if  these  plains  had  water 
they  would  be  most  fertile.  I  suppose  these  lands 
could  be  made  as  green  as  the  Valley  of  Mexico,  if 
the  people  had  the  capital  and  the  enterprise  to 
set  about  irrigating  them  on  a  large  scale." 

"That  stuff  doesn't  look  as  if  it  could  be  good 
for  anything,"  said  Roy,  pointing  to  a  grey-green 
cactus  plant. 

"There  you  are  mistaken,"  said  his  father, 
"for  the  cactus  is  quite  a  useful  plant.  There  is 
one  variety  that  furnishes  the  people  with  tooth- 
picks, and  another  with  combs,  and  there  are  two 
or  three  that  can  be  used  as  clocks,  having  an 
invariable  time  of  opening  and  closing  their 
blossoms." 


46  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

Suddenly  Roy  and  Ray  began  to  laugh  and 
pointed  at  a  hut  they  were  passing.  A  child, 
brown  and  chubby,  sat  on  the  doorsill  eating  his 
breakfast  from  a  tin  pan  with  a  long  spoon.  A 
dog  and  two  pigs  were  determined  to  have  some 
of  it,  and  kept  coming  up  and  introducing  their 
noses  over  the  edge  of  the  pan.  He  struck  at  them 
with  the  spoon  and  nudged  them  with  his  elbows, 
but  not  until  the  mother  drove  them  away  did  they 
go,  and  even  then  they  came  back  as  soon  as  her 
back  was  turned. 

"Well,  that  is  certainly  breakfast  under  difficul- 
ties," said  Mrs.  Stevens,  much  amused. 

"It's  a  long  way  from  that  to  cruelty  to  ani- 
mals," said  Mr.  Stevens,  "and  I  imagine  we  shall 
find  both  extremes  in  Mexico." 

Once  they  passed  a  walled  town,  something  like 
the  pueblos  (pway'-blos)  of  Arizona  and  New  Mex- 
ico, the  walls  the  colour  of  the  soil,  and  the  church 
the  largest  building  in  the  enclosure.  Around 
many  of  the  stations  they  saw  piles  of  brush  cut 
and  stacked  in  blocks,  and  the  conductor  told  them 
the  people  made  brooms  of  it.  They  afterward 
saw  these  brooms  in  use  in  various  places.    They 


MEXICO  AT  LAST  47 

were  not  made  of  even  length  and  thickness  like 
our  brooms,  but  just  tied  together  in  a  bundle,  and 
the  handle  was  formed  of  the  thick  ends  of  the 
brush  bound  together  in  several  places.  They 
seemed  to  sweep  very  well,  however. 

"I  thought  I  saw  prairie-dogs  a  little  way 
back,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens. 

"Oh,  mother,  why  didn't  you  tell  me?"  cried 
Ray;  "I  love  those  prairie-dogs  up  at  the  Bronx 
gardens,  and  I  do  wish  I  could  see  them  in  their 
real  homes." 

"We  passed  them  so  quickly,  and  you  were  not 
here  at  the  time,  or  I  should  have  told  you,"  said 
Mrs.  Stevens.  "I  am  quite  sure  that  I  saw  a 
prairie-dog  sitting  at  the  door  of  one  of  the 
mounds." 

By  now,  they  came  to  San  Luis  Potosi  (Po-to- 
see':  St.  Louis  of  the  Treasure),  their  first  large 
Mexican  town;  though  what  they  could  see  from 
the  station  did  not  impress  the  children  very 
much.  The  city  was  on  level  ground,  and  the 
buildings  in  sight  were  of  one  story  and  built  of 
plaster,  washed  in  the  usual  pale  pink  and  blue 
and  yellow  tints.    Here  they  were  to  take  dinner 


48  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

in  the  station,  and  it  proved  quite  an  American 
meal,  with  soup,  fowl  and  meats,  potatoes,  peas 
and  cabbage,  lemon  pie  and  fruit.  The  sugar  for 
the  coffee  was  Mexican  sugar  of  the  usual  grade, 
tinged  with  brown,  but  very  sweet.  "Twenty 
minutes  for  dinner"  in  Mexico  usually  means 
twenty-five,  so  that  one  does  not  feel  hurried,  and 
though  the  waiters  bring  and  pass  things  very 
quickly  they  do  not  get  nervous  and  fling  things 
at  you,  as  in  many  of  our  American  station  dining- 
rooms. 

The  family  explored  a  little  after  dinner,  before 
the  train  started,  and  back  of  the  station  found 
an  avenue  of  large  trees  under  which  the  country 
people  were  holding  a  sort  of  market  on  the 
ground,  selling  fruits  and  vegetables,  arranged  in 
little  piles  as  at  San  Antonio.  At  the  train- 
windows,  before  they  started,  all  sorts  of  bartering 
was  going  on,  the  people  bringing  gay  little 
baskets  of  strawberries,  figs,  little  jumping-jacks 
called  Judases,  dressed  in  fur,  strings  of  toy 
sombreros  (som-bray'-ros)  and  of  toy  umbrellas, 
home-made  candies,  and  some  very  beautiful  speci- 
mens of  drawnwork.     This  was  exquisitely  fine, 


MEXICO  AT  LAST  49 

and  some  of  the  patterns  were  like  those  we  see  in 
our  best  cut-glass. 

San  Luis  Potosi  is  in  the  midst  of  a  famous 
silver-mining  district,  and  one  of  the  ladies  in  the 
sleeping-car  was  going  to  her  home  at  another 
station  in  this  same  district.     Her  husband  was 
superintendent  of  a  mine,  and  Mrs.  Stevens  asked 
her  if  she  had  ever  been  down  in  the  mine,  and 
was  much  surprised  to  find  that  she  never  had. 
"No  woman  is  allowed  in  the  mine,"  she  said, 
"on  account  of  the  superstition  of  the  natives. 
They  would  think  the  place  hoodooed  (bewitched) 
if  a  woman  once  entered  it.    But  I  will  tell  you 
what  thev  do  let  into  the  mines,  and  that  is  rats. 
They  get  them  and  domesticate  them  as  scaven- 
gers, for  it  seems  the  only  way  of  keeping  the 
mines  clean." 

"Then  I  shouldn't  think  any  woman  would  wemt 
to  go  into  the  mines,"  said  Ray,  "if  they  have 
rats  there." 

"If  Rip  Van  Winkle  had  only  lived  here,  he 
could  have  gone  clown  in  the  mine  and  Gret- 
chen  couldn't  have  got  him,"  said  Roy,  thought- 
fully,  making    them    all    laugh.      Just    here    the 


50  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

conductor  came  along  and  stopped  to  talk  a 
moment. 

"You  youngsters  mustn't  think,"  said  lie  to  the 
children,  "that  you  have  really  seen  San  Luis 
Potosi.  It  dates  back  to  1566  or  thereabouts,  and 
was  a  big  commercial  city  years  before  ever  the 
railroad  came  through,  and  it  has  between  seventy 
and  eighty  thousand  people  now.  What  you  see 
from  the  station  is  not  very  impressive,  but  it  has 
a  cathedral  and  numerous  churches,  a  library  of 
100,000  volumes  and  a  museum;  the  state  capital 
is  here,  the  state  college,  and  some  mighty  pretty 
plazas  (public  squares)  and  patios  (enclosed 
courts).  If  you  had  had  time  to  stop  here, 
you'd  have  found  some  very  pretty  gold  and 
silver  embroidery  in  the  shops,  a  kind  of  work  the 
women  and  girls  make  a  specialty  of." 

"Oh,  father!"  exclaimed  Ray,  regretfully. 

"Never  mind,  little  woman,"  said  Mr.  Stevens, 
"you  and  your  mother  will  find  plenty  of  other 
things  to  spend  money  on.  If  Mexico  is  at  all  like 
Europe,  money  will  simply  melt  through  our 
fingers  before  we  know  it."  As  if  to  confirm  his 
statement,  all  day  long,  at  every  station,  there 


MEXICO  AT  LAST  51 

were  venders  of  figs,  of  pears,  of  tortillas  (tor- 
tee'-yas),  little  flat  cakes  of  corn-flour,  pottery,  etc., 
until  the  children  soon  saw  where  their  money 
would  vanish  if  they  allowed  it  to  go. 

It  seemed  odd  to  them  to  see  Indian  corn  grow- 
ing in  fields  all  the  way  down,  sometimes  sur- 
rounded by  a  hedge  of  straight,  tall  cactus,  and  to 
see  apples  among  the  products  offered  for  sale. 

From  San  Luis  on,  they  began  to  see  street-cars 
at  the  more  important  stations,  generally  drawn 
by  mules,  and  very  small  to  eyes  accustomed  to 
the  long  city  cars  of  the  United  States.  In  the 
afternoon  they  had  a  good  view  of  a  great  haci- 
enda (hah-see-en'-da)  or  estate.  It  began  right  at 
the  station — indeed,  the  station  was  put  there  to 
serve  the  hacienda,  evidently.  The  immense  brick 
dwelling,  large  as  a  hotel,  surrounded  with  trees, 
gardens,  and  outbuildings  of  adobe,  all  in  the  best 
possible  condition,  overlooked  the  railroad.  The 
estate  extended  across  the  track  in  the  midst  of 
continued  verdure,  with  stone-walled  fields,  the 
walls  climbing  to  the  top  of  the  adjoining  hills, 
winding  streams,  a  windmill  of  the  most  modern 
type,  workshops  and  outbuildings  of  great  extent. 


52  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

and  a  church  with  two  towers,  making  a  really 
beautiful  spot  after  the  desert  miles  they  had 
passed  through.  It  was  here  that  they  saw  for 
the  first  time  in  their  lives  a  private  horse-car. 
It  was  a  little  one,  holding  only  four  persons,  and 
ran  on  the  same  tracks  as  the  public  one.  It  was 
evidently  intended  for  the  use  of  the  owner  of  the 
hacienda.  One  of  the  conductors,  who  was  also 
the  driver,  left  his  car  and  came  to  the  station, 
and  the  children  saw  that  he  had  "Carrotero 
(Car-ro-tay'-ro) "  on  his  cap. 

"That  isn't  much  like  conductor,"  said  Ray. 

"No,  but  it  makes  me  think  of  an  English  word 
— I  can't  just  remember  what,"  said  Roy,  knit- 
ting his  brows  together. 

"Charioteer!"  suggested  his  mother. 

"Yes!"  exclaimed  Roy,  "and  it  means  almost 
the  same  thing,  doesn't  it?" 

"They  came  from  the  same  Latin  word,  car- 
rws,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens.  "And  car,  cart,  and 
carriage  in  English,  carrozza  in  Italian,  char  in 
French,  carro  in  Spanish,  are  all  words  of  the 
same  derivation."  I  don't  know  how  much  of  this 
little  lesson  in  words  the  children  remembered, 


MEXICO  AT   LAST  53 

but  they  ever  afterward,  while  in  Mexico,  called 
the  conductor  the  charioteer. 

Besides  the  street-car,  they  noticed  the  local 
buggies,  which  had  while  hoods  instead  of  black, 
to  reflect  the  rays  of  the  sun  instead  of  absorbing 
them.  Soon  alter,  the  train  began  to  climb  up  into 
the  mountains,  and  the  children  got  their  first  view 
of  a  Mexican  laundry.  Some  country  women  had 
brought  their  washing  to  a  mountain  brook  and 
were  rubbing  the  wet  clothes  on  the  stones  to  get 
the  dirt  off.  A  Mexican- American  lady  on  the  train 
told  Mrs.  Stevens  that  it  was  hard  to  get  the  Mexi- 
can women  to  wash  in  any  other  way,  and  that  if 
you  gave  them  washboards  on  which  to  rub  the 
clothes,  they  would  kneel  on  the  boards  and  con- 
tinue to  rub  on  the  stones.  A  ploughman  plough- 
ing with  a  crooked  stick,  instead  of  a  modern 
plough,  was  another  sight  among  the  hills.  He 
stood  up  to  look  at  the  train,  and  his  red  serape 
(se-rah'-pay)  flapped  about  him  most  picturesque- 
ly. This  is  a  garment  worn  by  nearly  all  tin1  men 
of  the  Mexican  working  class,  though  in  the  cities 
they  are  gradually  giving  it  up,  which  seems  a  pity, 
for  they  usually  wear  it  very  gracefully.    It  is  a 


54  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

square  garment  made  of  two  oblong  strips  sewed 
or  woven  together,  leaving  an  opening  in  the 
centre  to  put  the  head  through.  This  is  the  way 
it  is  worn  for  warmth.  When  not  needed  for  this, 
it  is  doubled  lengthwise  and  thrown  around  the 
neck  or  across  the  shoulder,  and  never  seems  to  in- 
terfere in  the  least  with  the  wearer's  movements. 
One  can  find  them  in  various  colours  and  weaves, 
and  often  considerably  decorated;  but  the  favour- 
ite colour  is  red,  and  with  the  loose  white  coat  and 
trousers,  sandals,  and  peaked,  broad-brimmed  hat, 
or  sombrero,  it  makes  a  very  picturesque  costume. 
Farther  on,  they  saw  a  property  containing 
acres  of  strawberries  under  cultivation.  They 
had  already  tasted  the  Mexican  strawberry  and 
found  it  very  sweet,  with  something  of  the  taste  of 
our  wild  berry,  and  generally  smaller  than  our 
largest  berries.  Soon  after  this,  it  grew  too  dark 
to  see,  and  the  children,  tired  with  all  the  novel 
sights  they  had  noticed  during  the  day,  dropped 
to  sleep  as  soon  as  they  touched  their  pillows, 
saying  to  each  other  joyfully,  "To-morrow  morn- 
ing we  '11  wake  in  the  Valley  of  Mexico  and  get  to 
Mexico  City." 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  CITY  OF  MEXICO 

And  in  the  morning,  true  to  their  expectations, 
they  awoke  to  find  themselves  gliding  through  the 
beautiful  valley,  with  green  fields,  white  villages, 
and  church  belfries  on  every  hand,  the  circle  of 
mountains  that  encloses  all  the  valley  plainly  visi- 
ble. Two  things  they  had  hoped  to  see  they  could 
not  see,  however,  for  Mt.  Popocate'petl,  the 
"smoking  mountain,"  and  Ixtaccihuatl  (Ix-tatzy- 
hwat'l),  the  "sleeping  woman,"  were  veiled  with 
clouds  so  far  as  their  snowy  tops  were  concerned. 
"Never  mind,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  "we  shall  see 
them  often  before  we  leave  Mexico,  and  there  will 
be  plenty  of  other  novelties  this  morning." 

Early  as  was  their  arrival,  the  station  was  a 
scene  of  great  activity,  all  sorts  of  officials  and 
half-officials  and  supernumeraries  running  about 
hither  and  thither  and  calling  and  seeming  very 
busy.    Outside  in  the  station  yard  were  dozens  of 


56  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

carriages,  nearly  all  with  wretchedly  thin,  worn- 
looking  horses.  The  drivers  wore  dark  jackets 
and  tall,  peaked  dark  hats,  some  of  felt,  some  of  a 
furry-looking  substance,  all  with  very  broad  brims 
slightly  turned  up,  and  the  crown  often  encircled 
with  silver  or  gold  braid. 

Roy  's  quick  eyes  took  in  several  things.  ' '  See, ' ' 
he  said  to  Ray,  "some  have  red  stripes  in  their 
lamps  and  some  have  blue  and  some  yellow.  I 
wonder  what  that  means."  That  was  a  problem 
that  no  amount  of  thinking  would  solve,  so  he 
thought  it  was  fair  to  ask  his  father,  and  found 
that  the  blue  cabs  were  first,  the  red  second,  and 
the  yellow  third  class,  and  that  the  prices  varied 
accordingly  from  one  dollar  to  fifty  cents  per 
hour,  Mexican. 

"But  suppose  you  just  want  the  man  to  take 
you  a  half-mile  and  leave  you ! ' ' 

' '  You  would  have  to  pay  him  for  a  half-hour — 
that  is  the  least  they  will  take  a  passenger 
for." 

They  soon  selected  a  carriage  with  seats  for 
four,  "un  coche  (oon  co'-chay)"  as  Mrs.  Stevens 
called  it,  gave  the  driver  the  name  of  their  hotel, 


THE  CITY  OF  MEXICO  57 

and  took  their  seats.  He  whipped  up  his  horses, 
and  they  were  soon  going  rapidly  through  the 
very  handsome  residence  streets  not  far  from  the 
station. 

"Oh,  there  is  Christopher  Columbus!"  ex- 
claimed Boy  as  delightedly  as  if  he  had  met  an 
American  friend. 

"Why,  yes,  a  monument  to  Christopher  Colum- 
bus! What's  he  doing  here?"  said  Ray,  without 
thinking. 

"My  dear!11  exclaimed  her  mother,  reproach- 
fully. 

"Oh,  I  forgot.  He  discovered  Mexico  just  as 
much  as  the  United  States,  didn't  he?"  said  Ray, 
quite  confused,  especially  as  all  the  family  were 
smiling  at  her  mistake. 

Then  they  came  to  another  monument,  and  this 
time  none  of  them  recognised  it,  though  they 
found  by  the  inscription  that  it  was  Charles  IV. 
of  Spain.  It  was  a  fine  equestrian  statue,  and 
presently  Mr.  Stevens  remembered  reading  of  it. 
When  the  Spanish  rule  was  overthrown,  the  mon- 
ument had  been  removed  to  the  court  of  the 
University  for  safety  as  there  was  so  much  bitter- 


58  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

ness  toward  the  Spaniards ;  and  there  it  remained 
from  1822  to  1852,  when  it  was  placed  where  it 
now  stands  at  the  entrance  to  the  fashionable 
boulevard  of  the  city,'  the  Paseo  ( Pah-say '-o)  de 
la  Eeforma  (Ray-for'-ma).  It  stands  in  a  little 
circle  called  a  glorieta  (glo-ry-ay'-ta).  As  they 
looked  down  the  wide,  tree-bordered  boulevard, 
with  statues  and  monuments  here  and  there,  they 
had  to  admit  that  it  was  as  fine  as  any  street 
they  had  ever  seen.  The  Mexican  houses  which 
they  passed  were  usually  of  two  or  three  stories, 
of  stone  or  of  plaster,  and  sometimes  with  much 
ornamental  carving,  lace-curtained  windows,  and 
beautiful  doorways. 

"But  they  haven't  any  yards,"  said  Roy. 
' '  Yes,  don 't  you  see  ? "  said  Ray.  ' '  Look  through 
the   doorways   and  you'll   see   the   yards   inside. 
They  have  lovely  flowers  and  trees  in  them,  and 
fountains  sometimes." 

I  doubt  very  much  if  there  were  trees  in  these 
patios  or  courts,  but  there  were  plants  in  immense 
pots  and  jars,  as  tall  as  small  trees,  banana-plants 
and  palms,  and  there  were  climbing  vines,  some  of 
them  with  brilliant  flowers. 


THE  CITY  OF  MEXICO  59 

"It  isn't  half  as  nice  as  having  yards,  because 
you  can't  see  them,"  said  Roy. 

"Oh,  I  think  it's  nicer,"  said  Kay,  "because 
when  your  yard  is  inside,  you  can  get  the  good 
of  it  without  every  one's  looking  at  you.  The 
people  that  have  yards  in  New  York  never  sit  in 
them." 

"Well,  I  should  think  not,"  said  Roy,  con- 
temptuously. 

"Well,  then,  what's  the  good  of  them?"  per- 
sisted Ray. 

"Why,  for  other  people  to  look  at,"  rejoined 
Roy. 

"And  have  to  stay  in  the  house  yourself  all  the 
time  and  never  get  the  air?  I  think  this  is  much 
nicer.  If  other  people  that  haven't  any  yards 
want  to  see  something  green,  they  can  go  and  look 
at  the  parks  and  open  squares,  instead  of  staring 
in  at  people  in  their  own  gardens." 

Roy  was  silent,  but  not  convinced.  It  was  not 
until  some  days  had  passed  that  he  admitted  that 
the  Mexican  system  of  building  had  some  advan- 
tages. When  they  reached  their  hotel,  they  found 
it  was  built  in  the  same  way.    There  were  no  steps 


60 


ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 


leading  up  to  it,  but  the  carriage  drove  right  in  at 
the  great  doorway  and  across  a  large  court,  to  the 
corner  where  the  office  was.  Three  rooms  were 
assigned  them  on  the  second  floor,  at  least  what  we 
call  the  second  floor,  though  it  is  first  according  to 
the  Mexican  count,  and  what  we  call  the  first  they 
call  the  ground  floor,  as  in  Europe.  The  children 
entered  their  rooms  with  the  greatest  curiosity. 


Mr.  &  Mrs, 

Stevens' 
Room        / 


V 


\ 


Roy's  Room 

A_ 


j*  Ray's  Room 


/ 


"We  haven't  got  any  windows ! ' '  they  exclaimed  in 
one  breath.  "We've  only  got  a  door!  And  there 
isn't  any  hall — the  doors  open  right  on  the 
porch!"  Their  rooms  opened  also  into  the  much 
larger  one  assigned  to  their  father  and  mother, 
however,  and  this  room  had  windows  looking 
down  upon  the  street.    This  is  the  plan. 

It  was  not  so  bad  a  plan  for  a  family  party,  for 
by  leaving  both  the  doors  and  the  windows  open, 


THE  CITY  OF  MEXICO  61 

they  secured  a  current  of  air  through  all  the 
rooms  and  had  the  benefit  of  overlooking  both 
street  and  patio.  This  patio  was  not  like  a  garden, 
however,  being  paved  with  cobblestone,  with  a 
stone  walk  around  it  under  the  gallery,  but  the 
decoration  of  the  walls  and  the  gallery  was  very 
fine  and  rich.  It  was  a  massive  and  imposing 
building  altogether,  and  had  once  been  the  palace 
of  the  Emperor  Yturbide  (Ee-tur-bee'-de)  during 
his  short  reign  from  May  to  December,  1822, 
ended  by  the  proclamation  of  the  Mexican  Re- 
public. Yturbide  was  banished  from  the  country 
for  betraying  the  wishes  of  his  countrymen,  which 
were  for  a  republic,  but  received  a  pension  for 
his  previous  services  to  the  country  in  securing 
her  independence.  He  went  to  England,  and  from 
there  sent  back  information  of  a  plot  for  the 
restoration  of  Spanish  rule.  No  attention  was 
paid  to  this,  and  a  price  was  put  upon  his  head  if 
he  should  ever  return.  The  poor  man  did  not 
know  of  this  and  ventured  to  come  back,  was 
arrested,  condemned  to  death,  and  shot  in  1824. 

All  this  Mr.   Stevens   told   the   children   while 
they  were  unpacking  and  arranging  their  clothes. 


62  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

It  made  quite  an  impression  upon  them,  and 
they  felt  very  sorry  for  the  man  whose  life  had 
begun  so  well  as  a  valiant  soldier's  and  ended 
as   a   traitor's  without  his  meaning  to   be   one. 

"Just  think,"  said  Ray,  leaning  over  the  gal- 
lery and  looking  into  the  court  below,  "an 
emperor  has  often  walked  through  this  court,  and 
even  along  this  gallery.  Perhaps  he  has  slept  in 
our  very  rooms." 

"Did  they  try  him?"  asked  Roy,  much  dis- 
turbed. 

"Yes,  my  boy,  the  legislature  was  in  session  in 
Tamau'lipas,  the  state  in  which  he  landed,  and  he 
was  brought  before  it  to  be  tried." 

"Well,  then,  I  suppose  it  was  all  right,  and  they 
did  the  best  they  knew,  but  it  seems  as  if  they 
might  have  believed  him  when  he  said  he  didn't 
mean  any  harm. ' ' 

"Are  you  ready  to  go  out,  children?"  asked 
Mrs.  Stevens,  presently.  "Father  says  we  have 
so  much  time  before  dinner  that  we  can  spend 
several  hours  in  sightseeing." 

"Dinner?  Why,  we  haven't  had  breakfast  and 
luncheon  yet!"  exclaimed  Roy,  dismayed  at  the 


THE  CITY  OF  MEXICO  63 

thought  of  losing  two  meals,  for  he  was  quite 
hungry. 

"Don't  be  frightened!"  said  his  mother,  laugh- 
ing. "We  are  going  down  to  breakfast  now,  and 
people  here  generally  have  dinner  in  the  middle 
of  the  day." 

"Are  we  going  to  have  our  meals  in  the 
palace? "  asked  Kay,  wondering  what  it  might  be 
like  to  eat  in  an  imperial  dining-room. 

"No,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  "we  have  taken  rooms 
only — that  is  the  plan  most  of  the  hotels  follow 
here,  the  European  one,  and  we  shall  get  our  meals 
at  restaurants  outside,  or  here  when  we  feel  so 
disposed.  I  must  warn  you  not  to  eat  much  fruit 
here  nor  heavy  meals  until  we  are  pretty  well 
acclimated.  We  have  come  from  sea-level  up  to  a 
height  of  over  7000  feet  in  three  days,  and  for  a 
while  our  digestions  will  have  to  be  watched.  The 
heart,  too,  beats  very  much  faster  in  this  rarefied 
air,  and  it  must  not  be  overworked." 

"Don't  the  people  that  live  here  mind  it?" 
asked  Ray. 

"Those  that  are  born  here,  or  that  have  lived 
here  a  long  time,  become  adapted  to  it,  but  you 


64  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

will  notice  they  take  certain  precautions.  They 
walk  in  the  shade  whenever  they  can,  and  they  do 
very  little  from  noon  until  about  three  o'clock, 
while  the  heat  is  greatest  and  when  they  are  more 
or  less  tired  with  the  morning's  exertion.  Then 
they  close  their  shops  for  a  few  hours  and  take  a 
siesta,  or  nap.  Are  we  all  ready  to  go  down? 
Have  you  locked  the  trunk,  Roy  or  Ray?  You 
must  not  leave  jewelry  or  money  or  anything 
valuable  about  in  a  hotel,  for  it  is  impossible  to 
be  sure  of  servants." 

"Do  you  think  they  would  care  for  our  books V1 
asked  Ray. 

"Hardly,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  smiling,  "espe- 
cially as  they  are  in  English."  He  locked  the  two 
doors  that  opened  on  the  gallery,  and  they  all  went 
in  search  of  the  breakfast-room. 

The  children  learned  several  things  while  at 
breakfast,  that  the  waiter  is  called  mo'zo,  that  an 
omelet  is  a  kind  of  tortilla,  and  that  Mexi- 
can coffee,  at  breakfast  time,  is  more  than  half 
hot  milk.  They  were  a  little  inclined  to  find 
fault  because  there  was  no  hot  bread,  but  their 
father  told  them  the  dry,  tough,  crusty  rolls  were 


THE  CITY  OF  MEXICO  65 

much  better  for  them,  and  that  the  very  first 
characteristic  of  a  good  traveller  was  to  adapt 
himself  to  the  customs  of  the  country  he  travelled 
in,  and  not  to  want  things  just  as  he  has  them  at 
home.  "What  would  be  the  use  of  travelling,  if 
people  and  things  everywhere  were  alike?"  he 
said. 

It  was  Sunday  morning,  and  the  best  place  to 
see  the  people  seemed  to  be  at  the  great  Cathedral, 
where  Mass  was  being  celebrated.  They  were 
several  blocks  away  from  the  Plaza  which  the 
Cathedral  faces  and  which  is  usually  called  the 
Zocalo,  though  its  true  and  formal  name  is  Pla'za 
Mayor'  de  la  Constitucion, — and  the  children  as 
they  walked  gazed  eagerly  into  the  shop  windows 
and  at  the  people  they  met.  The  sidewalks,  even  on 
the  main  business  street,  San  Francisco,  were  only 
wide  enough  for  two  people  to  pass  each  other,  so 
the  Stevens  family  were  soon  walking  single  file. 
As  they  came  out  upon  the  Plaza,  a  great  open 
square,  Mr.  Stevens  called  to  the  children  to  stop 
for  a  moment,  so  that  they  might  get  an 
impression  from  across  the  square  of  the  great 
Cathedral, 


66  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

It  was  different  from  any  church  Roy  and  Ray 
had  ever  seen,  and  at  first  they  were  inclined  to 
compare  its  aged  and  time-stained  look  very  un- 
favourably with  that  of  the  modern  churches  at 
home;  but  the  longer  they  stayed  in  Mexico  and 
the  more  they  saw  of  the  cathedrals  everywhere, 
the  better  they  understood  the  beauty  that  comes 
to  a  building  from  age  and  weather,  and  the  more 
they  felt  that  the  difference  in  architecture  was  in 
favour  of  the  Cathedral.    They  went  into  it  by  one 
of  the  great  doors  and  found  it  full  of  people,  all 
very  quiet,  although  you  could  hardly  hear  what 
the  officiating  priests  were  saying,  and  as  they 
spoke  in  Latin  many  of  the  people  could  not  have 
understood  it  anyhow.    But  they  were  as  still  and 
as   respectful  as  if  they  heard  and  understood 
every  word.    Most  of  them  had  to  stand,  as  there 
were  not  many  seats,  and  many  of  them  were 
kneeling  on  the  bare  tiles,  praying,  with  their  eyes 
fixed  on  the  altar,  entirely  forgetful  of  their  sur- 
roundings.    This  seems  to  be  a  feature  of  the 
Mexican  character,  a  deep  reverence  in  the  pres- 
ence of  sacred  things,  and  it  offends  them  very 
much  for  strangers  to  walk  briskly  through  their 


A  Beggar  Boy 


THE  CITY  OF  MEXICO  67 

churches    and    speak    in    ordinary    tones.      Mrs. 
Stevens    said    some    of    the    attitudes    and    ex- 
pressions   were    like    those    of    the    figures    in 
paintings  by  the  old  Spanish  masters.    After  they 
had  stood  awhile  in  silence,  they  came  out  into  the 
Plaza,  where  things  were  very  different  indeed. 
It  seemed  as  if  all  the  people  in  the  city  who  had 
things  to  peddle  had  come  there  to  peddle  them 
that  morning.    The  family  found  a  seat  unoccu- 
pied and  sat  for  over  an  hour  absorbed  in  watch- 
ing the  crowd.     Like  that  in  the  church,  it  was 
1  composed  of  all  classes  of  people,  gentlemen  and 
ladies,  well-dressed,  strolling  about  and  chatting, 
women  in  rebozos,  with  nothing  on  their  heads 
except  when  they  drew  this  long  shawl  up  over 
them,  countrymen  and  workmen  in  peaked  hats 
and  white  linen  or  cotton  suits  and  sandals,  or 
even  bare  feet,  and  beggars  in  rags  that  would 
hardly   hold   together.     Indeed,    one   jolly   little 
beggar-boy  had  his  two  ragged  garments  tied  on 
him  with  strings.    Never  anywhere  had  they  seen 
such  ragged  figures  as  they  saw  here.     But  the 
beggar-children,   at   least,   seemed  care-free   and 
jolly.    The  beggars  did  not  bother  them  by  follow- 


68  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

ing  them,  as  they  would  have  done  in  Europe — 
they  either  sat  in  their  corners  and  held  out  their 
hands  pleadingly,  or  let  their  infirmities  speak  for 
them  after  they  had  called  attention  by  "Nino 
(Neen'-yo)  "  or  "Nina  (Neen'-yah),"  according  as 
they  spoke  to  a  young  man  or  young  woman,  a  boy 
or  a  girl.  The  children  were  at  first  so  distressed 
by  the  cripples  and  blind  people  they  saw  that 
they  could  hardly  enjoy  anything;  but  when  they 
found  a  centavo  would  brighten  the  face  of  the 
most  distressing  one  among  them,  and  that,  on  the 
whole,  the  beggars  were  not  actually  suffering  at 
the  moment,  they  began  to  feel  better. 

"Let's  see  how  many  things  we  can  count  that 
they  are  selling,"  said  Ray,  and  she  and  Roy  at 
once  began  to  call  out  to  one  another,  "Pineapple 
slices,  one,"  "sliced  watermelon,  two,"  "balloons, 
three,"  "all  kinds  of  candies,  four,"  "all  kinds 
of  cakes,  five,"  "figs  and  something  else,  yellow, 
six,"  ("The  yellow  fruits  are  mangoes,"  said 
Mr.  Stevens),  "lemonade,  or  something  like  it, 
seven,"  "little  shortcakes,  eight,"  "brooms, 
nine,"  "brushes,  ten,"  "flowers,  eleven,"  "char- 
coal, twelve,"  "water-jars,  thirteen,"  "milk,  four- 


THE  CITY  OF  MEXICO  69 

teen,"  " water,  fifteen,"  and  so  on.    You  see,  the 
Plaza  was  a  very  busy  market  that  morning. 

At  last  they  rose,  and  strolling  around  the  end 
of  the  Cathedral,  came  unexpectedly  to  the  flower- 
market,  which  I  shall  tell  you  about  in  another 
chapter. 


CHAPTER  VI 

MEXICO  CITY  AND  GUADALUPE 

The    flower-market    is    held    in    a    good-sized 

pavilion  at  one  end  of  the  Cathedral,  in  a  shady 

corner  of  the  Plaza.    The  great  day  is  Sunday,  but 

every  day  there  are  numbers  of  country  people 

there  with  their  bouquets  ready  made,  generally 

each  of  one  kind  of  flower,  their  funeral  designs 

made  up  in  appropriate  flowers,  and  their  great 

jars  or  tubs  full  of  flowers  that  need  a  great  deal 

of  water.    There  were  so  many  kinds  of  beautiful 

roses  that  Ray,  who  was  very  fond  of  flowers, 

could  only  shake  her  head  in  astonishment  and 

wish   she   had  money  enough   to   buy   them   all. 

There  were  pansies  of  rich  purple  and  brown, 

much  larger  than  most  of  ours,  asters,  and  dahlias 

and  gladioli  all  in  gorgeous  colours,  and  great 

stalks  of  blue  flowers  like  small  lilies,  and  clusters 

of  a  great  purple  lily,  flowers  none  of  them  had 

ever  seen  before.    There  were  ragged  robins,  and 

70 


MEXICO  CITY  AND  GUADALUPE         71 

nasturtiums,  and  lady-slippers,  and  there  was  a 
tubful  of  the  bluest  and  most  perfect  forget-me- 
nots  that  any  of  them  had  ever  seen.  "What  do 
you  call  these?"  asked  Mrs.  Stevens  of  a  little 
Mexican  boy  who  seemed  to  belong  there. 

" N o-mi-olvidas   (No-me-ol-vee'-das),"  was  his 
answer. 

"It  is  the  same  as  with  us!"  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Stevens. 

"What  is  the  English  name?"  asked  the  boy. 

"Forget-me-not,"  replied  Mrs.  Stevens,  which 
he  repeated  after  her  with  a  perfect  accent  but 
evidently  thinking  it  a  very  curious  word,  for  he 
and  his  friends  laughed  at  the  strange-sounding 
name  the  Americans  had  for  the  little  no-mi- 
olvidas.  Mrs.  Stevens,  knowing  that  it  might  be 
some  time  before  they  got  back  to  their  rooms, 
bought  only  a  cluster  of  the  little  blue  lily-like 
flowers  which  had  a  stiff  stalk  and  would  not 
wilt  easily,  and  they  were  about  to  pass  on  when 
their  attention  was  caught  by  a  very  funny  sight. 
Two  little  boys,  apparently  brothers  and  also  beg- 
gars, or,  at  least,  very  poor,  judging  from  their 
rags,  were  struggling  together  on  the  ground,  the 


72  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

little  one  trying  to  get  something  from  the  larger 
one.  At  last  the  big  one  got  up,  and  when  the 
little  one  scrambled  up  to  follow  him,  they  saw  he 
had  no  trousers  on  and  that  the  big  boy  was  run- 
ning off  with  them  to  tease  him.  The  little  one 
finally  prevailed  upon  his  brother  to  give  him  back 
his  garment  and  sat  down  on  the  ground  and  put 
it  on  as  if  he  had  been  in  his  bedroom  instead  of 
out  on  a  public  street.  When  he  was  clothed 
again,  Mrs.  Stevens  asked  the  two  boys  to  stand 
for  their  picture,  promising  them  ten  centavos. 
They  stood  willingly,  and  then  they  all  saw  that 
the  younger  one  had  one  foot  twisted  backward,  so 
that  it  was  hard  for  him  to  walk.  When  Mrs. 
Stevens  paid  the  older  boy,  the  little  one  looked 
disappointed,  so  she  said,  "Remember, half  of  it  is 
for  him."  "Yes,  yes,"  said  the  older  boy,  "five 
for  me  and  five  for  him,"  and  they  strolled  away 
with  arms  about  each  other's  necks. 

A  little  while  afterward,  the  congregation 
having  come  out  of  the  Cathedral,  the  family  went 
into  it  again  to  look  about  as  they  could  not  when 
service  was  going  on.  They  sat  down  quietly,  and 
presently   they   heard   the   patter   of   bare   feet. 


MEXICO  CITY  AND  GUADALUPE         73 

They  turned,  at  least  the  children  did,  and  here 
were  the  two  little  beggars,  the  older  carrying  the 
younger  pickaback.  Without  seeing  the  Stevenses, 
he  carried  the  little  cripple  to  the  foot  of  one  of 
the  side  altars  and  let  him  down,  and  there  they 
both  knelt,  saying  prayers  very  devoutly.  The 
little  one  even  managed,  in  spite  of  his  twisted 
foot,  to  go  up  the  steps  of  the  altar  on  his  knees. 

1  'Do  you  suppose  they  are  thanking  God  for 
that  ten-cent  piece?"  whispered  Ray  to  Roy,  but 
he  shook  his  head  for  her  not  to  talk  in  the  church. 
When  they  went  out  they  encountered  the  boys 
again  and  got  a  flashing  smile  from  their  little 
white  teeth,  and  every  day  they  went  through  the 
Zocalo  they  saw  the  interesting  couple  and  re- 
ceived a  smile  of  recognition  from  them.  "They 
seem  so  happy,"  said  Ray,  much  puzzled,  "I  don't 
see  how  I  could  be  happy,  all  rags  and  dirt." 

"When  you  were  a  little  thing,  you  used  to  cry 
when  you  had  to  be  bathed  and  have  clean  clothes 
put  on  you,"  said  her  mother,  "and  so  did  Roy. 
Children,  as  a  rule,  don't  object  to  being  let 
alone,  when  it  comes  to  washing  and  dressing. 
It  is  only  because  we  kept  on  doing  it  that  you 


74  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

gradually  canie  to  like  it  and  feel  that  it  was 
necessary.  I  suppose  these  little  fellows  have  had 
nobody  to  look  after  them  and  don't  know  how 
nice  it  is  to  be  clean  and  have  whole  clothes  to 
put  on.  I  dare  say  they  wouldn't  change  places 
with  you,  if  they  knew  all  the  things  you  have  to 
do — to  brush  your  hair  and  your  teeth,  to  bathe 
every  day,  to  wear  shoes,  to  keep  your  hands 
clean,  to  wear  a  hat  on  the  street,  and  to  do  all 
the  things  that  well-brought-up  people  think  neces- 
sary." 

' '  Then  I  suppose  we  were  just  savages  when  we 
were  little,"  said  Ray,  thoughtfully. 

' '  Not  that  exactly,  but  you  were  more  than  any- 
thing else  little  animals,  and  we  wanted  you  to  be 
something  better  when  you  grew  up." 

Ray  thought  a  little  while  in  silence,  then  she 
came  to  her  mother  and  pressed  her  hand  affec- 
tionately. "Thank  you,  mother,"  she  said,  "I 
suppose  it  was  a  great  deal  of  trouble." 

After  luncheon,  which  they  had  at  a  restaurant, 
the  party  went  to  their  rooms  to  rest  until  three 
o'clock,  after  which  they  were  going  to  make  a 
little  excursion  by  tram   (street-car)    to  Guada- 


MEXICO  CITY  AND  GUADALUPE         75 

lupe,  one  of  the  suburbs.  Mr.  Stevens  said  that, 
as  they  were  unused  to  the  altitude,  they  would 
better  drive  or  go  in  trams  in  the  afternoon  after 
their  rest,  and  do  their  walking  and  harder  sight- 
seeing in  the  morning.  The  children  thought  they 
should  be  quite  unable  to  take  a  nap,  but  they  had 
got  up  so  early  in  the  morning  and  had  been  going 
so  steadily  ever  since,  that  they  no  sooner  took  off 
their  clothes  than  they  found  themselves  very 
sleepy. 

At  three,  they  awoke  refreshed  and  were  soon 
ready  to  start.  They  went  back  to  the  Zocalo  to 
get  the  tram  for  Guadalupe,  and  found  the  same 
constantly  moving  crowd  as  in  the  morning. 
"Everything  seems  to  go  from  here  and  come 
back  here,"  said  Roy,  as  cars  came  by,  marked 
"Tacubaya,"  "Chapultepec,"  "Mixcoac,"  "San- 
ta Maria,"  "San  Angel,"  and  finally  "Guada- 
lupe." The  cars  were  open  electric  cars,  and  it 
seemed  quite  like  home  to  find  a  crowd  trying  to 
get  on  and  scrambling  for  places.  However,  the 
Stevenses  managed  to  get  seats  together,  and  as 
the  car  stood  for  some  time  before  it  started,  Mr. 
Stevens  had  an  opportunity  to  point  out  some  of 


76  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

the    surrounding    buildings    that    he    thought    it 
would  interest  the  children  to  know  about. 

"I  showed  you  which  was  the  National  Palace 
this  morning,"  he  said,  pointing  to  a  long,  three- 
storied  building  that  occupied  one  side  or  end  of 
the  Plaza.  The  Mexican  flag  of  red,  green,  and 
white  stripes  flew  from  a  flag-staff  over  the  great 
clock  in  the  centre,  the  sentries  stood  at  the  main 
entrance,  and  the  soldiers  were  passing  in  and 
out.  One  would  have  known  at  once  that  it  was  a 
public  building. 

"Does  the  President  live  there?"  asked  Roy. 
"No,"  said  his  father,  "he  has  his  business 
offices  there,  but  he  has  a  private  residence  in 
another  part  of  the  city,  and  in  the  summer  stays 
out  at  Chapultepec.  Do  you  see  the  bell  hanging 
over  the  principal  gateway?" 

"Yes,"  said  both  the  children,  expectantly. 
"Well,  that  is  to  the  Mexicans  what  our  Liberty 
Bell  is  to  us.  It  used  to  hang  in  the  little  Church 
of  Dolores  (Do-lo'-rays),  in  the  State  of  Guana- 
juato (gwah-na-hwa'-to).  The  movement  for  an 
independent  Mexico  was  started  by  the  priest  of 
that  church,  Father  Hidalgo  (Hee-dal'-go) ,  in  1810. 


MEXICO  CITY  AND  GUADALUPE         77 

One  night  he  rang  this  bell  in  the  middle  of  the 
night,  and  the  people,  not  knowing  what  it  meant, 
obeyed  the  call  and  came  together  in  the  church, 
and  found  that  it  was  a  summons  to  follow  Father 
Hidalgo  in  the  war  for  independence.  His  call 
has  been  named  the  Grito  (Gree'-toh:  cry)  of  Mexi- 
can independence,  and  every  year,  for  many  years, 
on  the  anniversary  of  that  night,  the  President 
has  appeared  on  the  balcony  and  pronounced  the 
Grito  in  the  hearing  and  followed  by  the  patriotic 
applause  of  thousands  of  Mexicans.  The  words 
are  'Long  live  our  mother,  most  holy  Guadalupe, 
long  live  America,  death  to  bad  government.'  " 

''My!  Roy,  wouldn't  you  like  to  be  here  then?" 
exclaimed  Ray. 

"It  must  be  very  stirring,  especially  to  Ameri- 
cans, whose  experience  was  so  similar,"  said  Mr. 
Stevens.  "The  bell  was  brought  here  in  1896,  and 
now  it  is  rung  as  it  was  on  that  eventful  night  in 
the  little  church.  The  procession  which  brought  it 
to  the  palace  was  very  imposing.  The  bell  itself 
rested  on  a  car  with  golden  wheels  and  decorated 
with  flowers,  with  the  eagle  of  Mexico  attached  to 
the  front  of  the  car,  seeming  to  lead  the  way.    All 


78  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

about  the  bell  were  relics  of  the  war  of  independ- 
ence, and  the  car  was  followed  by  a  great  pro- 
cession of  military  and  civic  dignitaries,  and  then 
by  soldiers  and  the  people.  When  the  bell  was 
finally  in  place,  a  thousand  doves  with  bands  of 
the  Mexican  colours  around  their  necks  were  loosed 
from  the  roof  by  those  holding  them,  and  flew  all 
over  the  country  carrying  the  news.  In  the  even- 
ing, at  the  hour  of  the  original  summons,  when  the 
Plaza  was  packed  with  expectant  people,  Presi- 
dent Diaz  appeared  on  the  balcony  and  in  the 
midst  of  deep  silence  gave  four  strokes  to  the  bell. 
A  great  shout  went  up,  and  all  the  bells  in  all  the 
towers  added  their  chimes  to  the  rejoicing, 
coloured  fires  shone  from  the  buildings,  and  the 
bands  played,  while  the  people  nearly  went  wild 
with  enthusiasm  over  this  village  bell  which  had 
meant  so  much  to  Mexico." 

' '  Then  that  day  is  the  same  to  the  Mexicans  as 
the  Fourth  of  July  is  to  us?"  suggested  Roy. 

"Yes,  the  16th  of  September  is  the  National 
Holiday." 

"Shall  we  see  President  Diaz,  father?"  asked 
Ray. 


MEXICO  CITY  AxND  GUADALUPE         7«.» 

"I  think  very  likely,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  "as  he 
is  very  courteously  going  to  assist  at  the  Fourth 
of  July  celebration  this  week,  at  which,  of  course, 
every  American  in  the  city  is  expected  to  be 
present." 

"Oh,  jolly!"  exclaimed  the  children.  And  just 
then  the  car  started,  and  they  became  all  eyes  for 
the  sights  that  surrounded  them  on  the  streets. 
The  tram  for  Guadalupe  takes  one  through  many 
of  the  poorer  streets,  and  the  hasty  views  of  in- 
teriors that  the  family  got  as  they  passed  were 
not  very  attractive  though  exceedingly  interesting. 
Some  of  the  rooms  in  the  poorer  quarters  were 
clean  and  inviting,  but  the  majority  of  them  were 
not.  "Poor  things,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens,  as  they 
passed  a  stone-curbed  well  where  several  women 
were  filling  great  jars  and  cans  with  water,  "per- 
haps we  should  not  be  so  very  clean,  ourselves,  if 
we  had  to  carry  all  our  water  from  a  street 
well." 

' '  Why,  don 't  they  have  any  water  pipes  1 ' ' 

"Not  in  all  the  houses  as  we  have.  Have  you 
not  seen  the  water-carriers  going  about  with  their 
great  cans  of  drinking  water?" 


80  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

' '  Oh,  yes,  so  I  have, ' '  said  Ray,  remembering. 

The  eyes  of  the  whole  party  were  kept  so  busy 
that  they  were  all  surprised  when  they  reached 
Guadalupe  and  found  themselves  in  front  of  the 
great  Cathedral,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in 
Mexico.  In  spite  of  the  semi-darkness  of  the  in- 
terior, they  could  see  fairly  well  the  painted  pic- 
ture of  the  Madonna  of  Guadalupe  up  over  the 
high  altar.  And  while  they  sat  there,  Mrs. 
Stevens,  who  had  been  looking  up  its  history, 
told  them  the  story  of  the  patron  saint  of  all 
Mexico. 

"The  Aztecs,  the  tribe  of  Indians  inhabiting 
this  part  of  Mexico  when  the  Spaniards  came,  had 
a  deity  they  called  the  Mother  of  Gods,  and  they 
worshipped  her  on  this  hill  behind  the  spot  where 
the  Cathedral  now  stands.  The  Spanish  priests, 
finding  that  they  could  not  stop  this  idolatry, 
decided  to  transfer  the  worship  to  a  Christian 
object  and  managed  to  connect  with  the  spot  a 
Christian  legend,  so  that  the  Indians  who  were 
attached  to  the  hill  and  came  here  to  worship 
should  really  be  worshipping  the  Madonna.  The 
story  goes  that  a  Christian  Indian  who  passed  the 


MEXICO  CITY  AND  GUADALUPE         81 

hillside  on  his  way  to  Mass,  heard  the  sound  of 
singing  and  saw  the  vision  of  a  beautiful  woman 
who  gave  him  a  message  to  the  bishop,  that  he  was 
to  build  a  temple  in  her  honour  on  that  very  hill. 
The  Indian  took  the  message,  but  was  not  believed, 
and  several  times  he  saw  the  vision  and  carried 
the  order  before  any  attention  was  paid  to  him, 
and  even  then  there  had  to  be  a  miracle  to  make 
the  bishop  believe.  The  top  of  the  hill  was 
nothing  but  a  barren  rock,  but  the  vision  told  the 
Indian  to  gather  flowers  from  it  and  as  she  spoke 
the  flowers  suddenly  grew  there.  The  Indian 
gathered  them  into  his  cloak,  or  tihna,  made  from 
the  fibre  of  the  maguey  (mah-gway')  plant,  and 
started  back  to  the  bishop,  and  the  vision  dis- 
appeared, and  where  it  had  stood  a  spring  of  cold 
water  gushed  forth  that  has  to  this  day  healing 
properties,  the  Indians  believe. 

''Coming  again  to  the  bishop,  the  Indian  opened 
his  tilma  and  dropped  the  flowers,  and  behold!  the 
image  of  the  vision  appeared  upon  the  cloak  in 
beautiful  colours.  The  bishop  no  longer  doubted. 
He  built  a  chapel  where  the  flowers  had  grown 
and  placed  the  picture  in  it.     This  was  in  1532. 


82  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

Over  a  hundred  years  later  the  Pope  recognised 
the  Twelfth  of  December,  the  day  when  the  vision 
was  last  seen,  as  the  day  of  Mexico's  protectress 
and  patroness,  the  Virgin  of  Guadalupe,  and  so 
this  was  made  also  a  national  holiday.  The 
people,  especially  the  Indians,  were  so  pleased  to 
have  a  saint  all  of  their  own,  that  they  have  made 
great  pilgrimages  to  the  shrine  on  that  day  ever 
since.  The  image  is  supposed  to  have  miraculous 
powers  when  the  people  are  in  danger,  and  once 
when  the  Valley  of  Mexico  was  inundated,  the 
clergy  took  the  image  in  a  barge  at  night  and 
carried  it  to  the  Cathedral  of  Mexico,  with  music 
and  candles  and  the  prayers  and  hymns  of  the 
people  for  accompaniment.  The  waters  gradu- 
ally subsided,  and  the  image  was  carried  back  and 
kept  in  the  parish  church  until  this  Cathedral  was 
built  in  1709." 

"Who  is  that  marble  statue!"  asked  Eay. 

' '  On  one  side  of  the  picture  is  the  marble  image 
of  the  bishop,  on  the  other  that  of  the  Indian, 
Juan  Diego  (Whan  Dee-ay'-go) ,  and  the  archbishop 
under  whom  the  Cathedral  was  completed  kneels 
in  marble  before  the  altar.    Pope  Leo  XIII,  who 


MEXICO  CITY  AND  GUADALUPK         83 

died  several  years  ago,  you  remember,  wrote  the 
following  inscription  in  Latin  to  be  placed  up 
above  the  altar : 

"  'The  Mexican  people  rejoice  in  worshipping 
Thee,  Holy  Mother,  under  this  miraculous  Image, 
and  in  looking  to  Thee  for  protection. 

"  'May  that  people  through  Thee  flourish  in 
happiness,  and  ever,  under  Thy  auspices,  grow 
stronger  in  the  faith  of  Christ.'  " 

"Well,  it's  a  beautiful  story,  anyhow,"  said 
Ray.  "I  think  it  was  quite  natural  that  the 
Indians  should  want  a  saint  of  their  own,  when 
every  country  has  one." 

"I  don't  see  what  a  republic  wants  of  a  saint — 
we  haven't  got  any,"  said  Roy. 

"No,"  replied  Ray,  "we've  only  got  George 
Washington — and  Martha.  But  I  don't  suppose 
we  could  have  her  for  a  saint — she  wasn't  living 
long  enough  ago.  You  have  to  have  lived  at  least 
several  hundred  years  ago  to  be  a  saint,  don't 
you,  mother  I ' ' 

"I  think  it  takes  at  least  that,  usually.  You 
know  they  have  been  trying  to  make  a  saint  of 
Joan  of  Arc  for  a  long  time  and  have  just  lately 


84  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

succeeded  in  having  her  recognised  as  one  by  the 
church. ' ' 

"Well,  I'd  be  willing  to  have  her  for  my  coun- 
try's saint,"  exclaimed  Roy,  "she's  just  my  kind. 
She  did  save  her  country,  or  tried  to,  and  every- 
bodv  knows  she  did." 

All  around  the  walls  of  the  Cathedral,  which 
the  party  now  began  to  examine  with  much  in- 
terest, were  fine  paintings  illustrating  the  history 
of  the  image.  The  picture  itself  is  very  beautiful, 
and  the  crown  above  it,  made  of  jewels  and  gold 
given  by  the  women  of  Mexico,  was  put  in  place  in 
1895.  It  was  a  great  day  for  the  faithful,  who 
came  in  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  from  all 
over  the  country  to  witness  the  coronation,  or,  at 
least,  to  kneel  on  the  ground  outside  while  the 
event  was  going  on,  for  only  some  hundreds  could 
get  into  the  Cathedral. 

From  the  Cathedral,  the  party  visited  the  beauti- 
ful little  chapel  which  was  built  over  the  place 
where  the  vision  stood  and  the  spring  gushed 
forth.  The  spring  is  just  inside  the  door,  and  the 
visitors  going  through  generally  stop  to  drink  or 
touch  the  water,  which  is  supposed  to  have  healing 


MEXICO  CITY  AND  GUADALUPE         85 

qualities.  Then  they  climbed  laboriously  the 
steep,  winding,  cobble-paved  hill  behind  the  Cathe- 
dral, to  the  little  chapel  built  over  the  spot  where 
the  roses  grew  that  sprung  from  the  rock.  Here 
they  were  caught  in  the  rain,  and  had  to  wait  for 
the  shower  to  pass  over,  for  the  rainy  season 
having  begun  one  might  with  reason  expect  at 
least  a  little  rain  every  afternoon  or  evening.  On 
the  way  up, Roy  suddenly  exclaimed,  ''Well,  that's 
queer!  Sails  made  of  stone!  What  are  they  up 
here  for,  I  wonder." 

"They  say  some  sailors  who  were  saved  by  a 
miracle,  as  they  thought,  from  shipwreck,  walked 
all  the  way  from  Vera  Cruz  carrying  their  ship's 
sails  and  encased  them  here  in  stone  as  a  thank- 
offering  to  the  Virgin,  to  whom  they  had  prayed, 
and  who  had  delivered  them  from  danger.  But  no 
date  is  known  for  the  story,  and  the  true  history 
and  meaning  of  the  sails  are  lost,"  explained  Mrs. 
Stevens. 

During  the  rain,  there  were  several  other  people 
who  took  refuge  in  the  chapel,  among  them  a  little 
family  of  father,  mother,  and  two  babies;  the 
father  a  young  soldier.    They  bought  ribbons  that 


86  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

had  been  blessed  from  the  woman  who  was  selling 
such  things  in  the  chapel,  and  tied  them  around 
the  necks  of  the  babies,  and  went  away  seeming  to 
feel  that  they  had  done  what  they  could  to  pre- 
serve the  little  things  from  harm. 

When  the  rain  had  about  ceased,  the  party 
visited  the  cemetery  behind  the  chapel,  looking  not 
so  much  at  the  tombs  as  at  the  wonderful  view 
extended  before  their  eyes.  Even  Popocate- 
petl could  be  seen  dimly,  with  his  snowy,  peaked 
cap. 

"Santa  Anna  is  buried  here  somewhere,"  said 
Mr.  Stevens,  and  finally  they  came  across  the 
tomb,  which  was  not  especially  prominent. 

"Was  he  a  great  man,  father?"  asked  Roy. 

"No,  I  think  not,  He  was  on  the  right  side 
in  the  Mexican  war,  of  course,  and  in  the  war 
against  the  French,  in  which  he  lost  his  leg;  but 
afterward  he  spoiled  it  all  by  trying  to  have  him- 
self made  dictator." 

' '  I  wish  you  would  tell  us  about  the  war  against 
the  French,"  said  Roy. 

"Another  day,  my  boy.  I  think  you  and  Ray 
have  taken  in  enough   information  for  one  day. 


MEXICO  CITY  AXD  GUADALUPE         87 

It's  going  to  rain  again,  too,  and  we  must  get  back 
to  the  city.  Besides,  my  business  friend,  Mr. 
Clarke,  is  to  call  on  me  this  evening,  and  I  must  be 
at  the  hotel  in  good  season." 

As  they  came  down  the  hill,  the  children 
stopped  to  buy  some  tiny  cakes  or  yurditas 
(gor-dee'-tas),  made  and  sold  by  a  neat,  pleas- 
ant-looking woman  stationed  beside  the  road. 
They  were  a  kind  of  sweetened  tortilla,  very 
smooth  and  rich,  and  fairly  melted  in  one's  mouth. 
Ordinarily,  the  family  did  not  care  to  buy  eatables 
from  street-stands,  but  these  cakes  were  so  deli- 
cious they  were  very  glad  they  had  not  been  afraid 
to  try  them. 


CHAPTER  VII 
MEXICO'S  PRESIDENT 

When  Mr.  Stevens'  friend  had  gone  that  even- 
ing, the  children  were  asleep,  so  that  they  did  not 
hear  the  good  news  their  father  had  to  tell  them 
until  the  next  morning.  At  breakfast,  he  gave 
them  two  pleasant  surprises,  one,  an  invitation  to 
them  as  well  as  to  their  father  and  mother,  to  dine 
at  the  Clarkes'  and  go  with  them  to  a  pelota  game 
afterward,  and  the  other  an  opportunity,  in  all 
probability,  to  sit  in  the  reviewing  stand  the  next 
day  and  have  the  honour  of  shaking  hands  with 
the  President.  The  children  had  fortunately 
nearly  finished  their  breakfast  or  they  would 
scarcely  have  been  able  to  eat  any,  they  were  so 
excited  and  pleased  at  the  prospect.  It  seemed  as 
if  the  day  would  be  just  one  long  waiting  for  the 
evening,  but  very  soon  they  found  that  their 
father  had  plans  for  the  morning. 

"We  will  take  the  tram  and  go  out  to  Tacubaya, 

88 


MEXICO'S  PRESIDENT  89 

this  morning,  partly  for  the  ride  and  partly  to  see 
the  suburbs,"  he  said,  "and  on  the  way  I  can  tell 
you  something  about  the  great  man  you  are  to  see 
to-morrow." 

So  they  all  proceeded  again  to  the  Plaza,  and 
took  the  tram  for  Tacubaya.  This  is  a  suburb  out 
beyond  Chapultepec,  so  that  in  addition  to  the 
streets  of  the  citv,  and  the  new  Colonia  Roma 
where  many  new  and  expensive  houses  were  being 
built,  they  had  glimpses  also  of  the  Paseo,  or 
boulevard,  and  of  the  Castle  of  Chapultepec  on  its 
rock  with  its  surrounding  gardens.  "Why  don't 
we  go  there  to-day?"  asked  Roy,  who  was  anxious 
to  see  the  monument. 

"Because  when  we  do  that  we  want  to  kill  two 
birds  with  one  stone  and  see  the  driving  also.  If 
we  come  in  the  afternoon  we  can  see  the  castle 
first,  all  that  is  shown  to  strangers,  and  can  then 
take  our  seats  in  the  park  below  at  the  fashionable 
hour  for  driving  and  see  all  the  handsome  equi- 
pages and  beautiful  ladies." 

"Humph!"  said  Roy,  who  was  not  much  inter- 
ested in  beautiful  ladies. 

After  Chapultepec  they  passed  through  other 


90  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

suburbs,  each  with  its  little,  old  church,  very  often 
quite  beautiful  or  picturesque,  its  little  plaza  with 
fine  old  trees  and  brilliant  flowers,  and  its  walled 
private  gardens  over  which  flowering  vines  were 
trailing  and  the  tops  of  trees  could  be  seen. 

"They  must  be  lovely,  inside,"  sighed  Ray. 

"We  shall  see  some  gardens  before  we  leave 
Mexico,"  said  her  mother. 

As  they  went  along,  the  children  kept  pointing 
out  to  each  other  the  little  things  that  were  new 
to  them  along  the  road;  the  women  making  tor- 
tillas (very  thin  corn  cakes)  in  the  doorways, 
patting  them  thin  with  their  hands  on  a  flat  stone 
or  platter — the  water-carrier  in  his  leather  cuirass 
and  helmet,  with  a  great  metal  jar  in  front  and 
one  behind,  held  on  by  a  strap  across  his  leather- 
protected  forehead — the  processions  of  donkeys 
loaded  with  charcoal  or  wood  or  straw,  and  never 
going  faster  than  an  easy  walk — the  carts  with 
only  two  wheels,  but  these  very  large,  as  high  as 
the  cart  or  higher — and  a  street-car,  all  painted 
white  and  looking  like  a  child's  hearse,  the  front 
end  of  which  was  arranged  for  carrying  a 
coffin. 


X 

o 


0 


MEXICO'S   PRESIDENT  91 

"Why,  mother,  do  they  go  to  funerals  on  street- 
cars?" asked  Kay,  quite  shocked. 

"It  seems  so,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens,  "the  car  lines 
go  to  the  cemeteries  and  so  the  people  have  trains 
of  cars  reserved  and  all  follow  the  hearse  in  that 
way,  often  carrying  their  floral  pieces  with  them. 
This  is  the  first  time  I  have  seen  a  car  arranged  as 
a  hearse,  however,  for  nearly  always  there  is  a 
real  hearse  to  lead  the  procession." 

"Well,  if  they  have  reserved  cars,  it's  all 
right,"  said  Ray,  "but  I  should  hate  to  go  to  a 
funeral  in  a  car  anybody  could  get  into." 

"I  thought  you  were  going  to  tell  us  about  Pres- 
ident Diaz,  father,"  said  Roy,  as  they  reached  the 
terminus  at  Tacubaya,  and  waited  for  the  car  to 
start  back. 

"So  I  was.  I  intended  to  tell  you  something 
about  his  career  as  president  only,  but  when 
I  came  to  look  into  his  historv  I  found  his 
early  life  so  interesting  and  full  of  adventure  that 
I  thought  you  would  enjoy  that  even  more.  He 
was  born  at  Oaxaca  (Wah-hah'-ca)  in  1830." 

"WThy,  we're  going  there!  Do  they  show  the 
place?"  asked  Roy. 


92  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

"Hardly,  I  imagine.  The  place  is  a  sugar  fac- 
tory now.  It  will  be  easy  to  remember  his  birth- 
day because  it  was  the  15th  of  September,  the  day 
before  the  National  holiday.  Mexico  had  been  a 
republic  since  1821,  but  was  almost  always  in  a 
state  of  confusion,  what  with  the  factions  in  the 
government  and  the  small  revolutions  springing 
up  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  Porfirio's 
father  died  when  the  boy  was  three  years  old,  and 
his  mother  brought  him  up.  Until  he  was  seven 
years  of  age  he  went  to  a  primary  school,  and 
from  eight  to  fourteen  to  a  secondary  school,  in 
the  meantime  acting  as  errand  boy  to  help  out  the 
family  finances,  for  his  mother  had  not  much  to 
live  on.  He  then  entered  the  seminary  where  he 
was  to  have  his  theological  education,  for  his 
mother  wished  him  to  be  a  priest.  The  Mexican 
War  took  place  while  he  was  a  student  and  he 
volunteered,  but  was  called  to  serve  only  as  part 
of  the  local  militia." 

"Excuse  me,  father,  but  is  he  a  Mexican  or  a 
Spaniard,  or  an  Indian?"  asked  Roy. 

"He  is  a  Mexican,  for  through  his  great-grand- 
mother he  has  some  Indian  blood,  but  his  father's 


MEXICO'S  PRESIDENT  93 

family  came  from  Asturias  in  Spain  at  the  time  of 
the  Conquest.  While  he  studied  at  the  seminary 
he  also  tutored  to  help  pay  his  expenses;  and  when 
he  decided,  much  to  his  mother's  disappointment, 
to  be  a  lawyer  instead  of  a  priest,  he  had  to  rely 
entirely  on  his  own  resources.  So  he  continued  to 
take  pupils,  and  became  also  librarian  of  the  in- 
stitute." 

"My!  I'm  glad  he  didn't  become  a  priest!" 
exclaimed  Roy. 

"He  might  have  been  a  great  one  like  that  other 
one,  Father  Hidalgo,"  said  Ray. 

"Yes,  but  he  never  could  have  been  presi- 
dent." 

"When  he  graduated,  he  entered  the  law  office 
of  Juarez  (War'-ez),  who  was  one  day  to  be  presi- 
dent, and  also  taught  Roman  law  in  the  school  he 
had  just  graduated  from. 

"His  military  adventures  began  in  the  revolt 
against  Santa  Anna,  who  had  had  himself  pro- 
claimed dictator  of  Mexico.  Diaz  took  a  prom- 
inent part  in  this  revolt  and  had  to  flee,  but 
returned  when  the  dictator  was  expelled,  and  was 
made  mayor  of  a  little  town  called  Ixtlan.    Here 


94  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

he  showed  his  ability  and  his  military  tendency  by 
creating  an  excellent  militia  out  of  the  Indians  of 
the  village,  training  and  drilling  them  continually. 
He  has  never  seemed  to  care  anything  about 
money  or  fame.  When  the  captaincy  of  the 
National  guard  was  offered  him,  he  took  it  though 
the  salary  was  smaller  than  his  salary  as  mayor. 
And  he  has  been  reckless  of  his  own  safety  and 
health  many  times.  In  one  of  the  small  revolu- 
tions about  this  time,  he  was  wounded  and  could 
not  get  to  a  doctor  for  a  week,  and  it  was  a  year 
before  the  bullet  was  extracted.  His  next  post 
was  as  mayor  of  Tehuantepec  (Tay-wan'-te-pec), 
a  rather  isolated  place,  where  he  served  two  years, 
straightening  out  the  town's  affairs  and  showing 
that  he  could  do  other  things  besides  fighting.  He 
was  next  made  deputy  to  Congress  from  his  home- 
district,  Oaxaca,  and  during  the  war  against  the 
French  invaders  he  was  chief  of  brigade  of 
Oaxaca.  He  did  some  very  brilliant  things  during 
this  war,  once  holding  off  a  thousand  French 
zouaves  with  only  a  handful  of  lancers,  and  only 
yielding  when  most  of  his  men  were  gone  and 
himself  a  wounded  prisoner.    Even  then,  however, 


MEXICO'S  PRESIDENT  95 

he  managed  to  get  to  his  horse  unnoticed,  get  on 
him,  and  flee,  followed  by  a  shower  of  bullets. 
Another  time — it  was  the  5th  of  May,  1862 :  there 
is  a  street  in  the  city  here  named  Cinco  de  Mayo 
for  this  engagement — he  met  a  body  of  trained 
French  soldiers  with  his  undisciplined  men  and 
routed  them  completely.  At  the  siege  of  Puebla, 
where  he  held  part  command  of  the  defence,  the 
French  got  into  the  first  courtyard  of  the  building 
Diaz  was  holding.  Diaz  ran  out  alone  and  fired 
the  fieldpiece  that  commanded  the  gate,  doing 
considerable  execution,  and  having  by  this  brave 
act  inspired  his  men,  led  them  out  into  the  court- 
yard, drove  out  the  invaders,  and  closed  up  the 
breach  they  had  made.  The  city  had  to  surrender 
finally,  but  Diaz  refused  to  give  his  parole,  was 
taken  prisoner,  and  escaped." 

" What's  that,  not  to  give  his  parole?"  asked 
Ray. 

i 'It  means  he  refused  to  promise  that  he  would 
not  try  to  escape,"  said  Mr.  Stevens. 

"Juarez,  who  was  now  president,  offered  to 
make  him  secretary  of  war  or  commander  of  an 
army  corps,  but  he  declined,  saying  that  such  pro- 


96  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

motion  for  so  young  a  man  would  probably  make 
trouble." 

"Wasn't  he  just  fine!"  exclaimed  Roy. 

"During  the  time  that  the  capital  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  French,  Juarez  was  driven  from 
place  to  place  about  the  country  with  the  presi- 
dency "under  his  hat";  and  there  was  more  or 
less  dissatisfaction  in  various  parts  of  the  country, 
but  Diaz  at  Oaxaca  kept  his  district  of  the  country 
together  and  was  really  the  hope  of  the  republic. 
In  1865,  the  French  forces  under  Marshal  Bazaine 
shut  him  up  in  Oaxaca,  and  tried  to  bribe  him  by 
offers  of  a  fine  position  in  the  imperial  army  of 
Maximilian,  but  in  vain." 

"Well,  I  should  think  so,"  said  Roy,  indig- 
nantly. 

"The  town  had  to  give  way  at  last,  and  all  but 
three  of  the  officers  pledged  themselves  to  neutral- 
ity. Diaz  was  one  of  the  three,  and  was  imprisoned 
in  Puebla,  in  the  State  College,  where  he  escaped 
by  scaling  the  wall,  with  a  price  of  ten  thousand 
dollars  on  his  head.  For  weeks  he  kept  up  a  kind 
of  guerrilla  warfare,  winning  small  victories  that 
roused  the  courage  of  those  who  had  been  inclined 


MEXICO'S  PRESIDENT  97 

to  give  up;  and  at  this  point  the  United  States, 
whose  civil  war  was  off  its  hands,  came  to  the 
rescue." 

'  'I'm  glad  of  that!"  exclaimed  both  chil- 
dren. 

"Secretary  Seward  sent  word  to  Napoleon  III 
that  the  United  States  disapproved  of  the  estab- 
lishment of  an  empire  in  the  western  hemisphere, 
and  in  18G6  Napoleon  notified  Maximilian,  the 
Emperor,  that  he  would  call  off  his  troops  at  the 
end  of  a  year.  This  was  a  blow  for  Maximilian, 
but  he  tried  one  more  dodge,  offering  Diaz  the 
presidency  instead  of  Juarez.  Diaz  did  not  even 
notice  the  offer." 

"Good!"  exclaimed  Roy,  "it  wasn't  Maxi- 
milian's to  give!" 

"For  a  year,  Diaz  fought  in  a  way  to  com- 
mand every  one's  admiration  and  astonishment. 
He  was  most  humane  to  his  prisoners,  and  he  was 
often  successful  in  securing  voluntary  loans  of 
money  and  credit  where  another  commander  would 
have  thought  it  necessary  to  force  them.  At  last, 
it  was  a  question  of  taking  the  Capital  only.  Diaz 
was  unwilling  to  injure  the  city  by  bombardment, 


98  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

so  lie  gave  what  is  called  'The  Five  Days'  Battle' 
outside  the  city.  General  Escobedo  (Es-co-bay'- 
do),  who  had  been  fighting  Maximilian  at  Quere- 
taro  (Kay-ray'-ta-ro),  finally  conquered,  and  Max- 
imilian and  his  two  generals  were  executed.  The 
Citv  of  Mexico  surrendered  the  next  day,  and 
Diaz  was  able  to  welcome  the  exiled  president, 
Juarez,  with  great  public  rejoicings  on  July  15, 
1867.  He  himself,  after  reorganising  the  army, 
retired  to  private  life  in  Oaxaca,  where  the 
authorities  gave  him  an  estate,  and  he  settled 
down  with  his  first  wife,  whom  he  had  married 
during  the  war. ' ' 

Mr.  Stevens  paused  for  breath  after  his  long 
speech,  but  the  children  were  by  no  means  satis- 
fied. 

"And  then?  And  then?"  they  asked.  "When 
did  he  get  to  be  president?" 

"Oh,  Eoy,  to  think  we're  going  to  see  this  hero 
to-morrow,  and  maybe  shake  hands  with  him !  It 
scares  me,  doesn't  it  you?" 

"No,"  said  Eoy,  soberly,  "but  I  don't  feel 
good  enough.  It  hardly  seems  as  if  it  could 
happen," 


MEXICO'S  PRESIDENT  99 

''Well,  as  you  may  imagine,  there  were  many 
people  who  wanted  Diaz  for  president.  They  felt 
as  we  did  about  General  Grant,  that  he  had  been 
the  hero  of  the  war  and  had  saved  the  country,  and 
that  he  ought  to  have  the  greatest  reward  the 
country  could  give.  But  Juarez  was  in,  and  was 
not  a  bad  president,  by  any  means,  and  though 
there  was  room  for  a  contest  as  to  the  result  of  the 
election,  Diaz  refused  to  put  in  any  claim,  and 
Juarez  held  the  presidency  until  his  death  in  1872. 
He  is  known  as  the  Indian  president.  There  was 
still  another  president  before  Diaz,  and  he  offered 
Diaz  positions  of  honour  under  the  government,  but 
they  were  not  accepted,  and  the  soldier  continued 
in  private  life  until  1876.  By  that  time  misman- 
agement of  the  country  had  led  to  revolutions  on 
all  sides,  and  the  president,  recognising  Diaz  as  a 
dangerous  rival,  had  sent  him  out  of  the  country, 
and  for  a  short  time  he  lived  in  the  United  States, 
in  Texas.  When  things  in  Mexico  reached  such  a 
pass  that  something  had  to  be  done,  Diaz,  feeling 
that  he  was  the  one  man  who  could  straighten  out 
the  tangle  and  hold  the  reins,  marched  back  into 
Mexico  with  fortv  soldiers  at  his  back,  a  number 


100  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

which  increased  steadily  as  he  marched;  but  as  he 
could  not  work  through  to  the  South  by  land,  he 
went  back  to  New  Orleans  and  started  by  boat  to 
Vera  Cruz.  In  the  harbour  of  Tampico,  he  was 
recognised  by  some  former  prisoners  of  his,  and 
another  of  his  romantic  adventures  began.  Lest 
he  be  taken  prisoner,  he  jumped  overboard  at 
night,  without  fear  of  the  man-eating  sharks  of 
which  the  waters  there  were  full,  but  was  over- 
taken and  carried  back." 

A  rueful  "  Oh ! "  burst  from  both  the  children. 

"One  of  the  officers,  who  was  friendly  to  him, 
concealed  him  then  in  a  sort  of  box-seat,  and  every 
evening  officers  of  his  enemy's  army  sat  on  it  and 
played  cards,  never  dreaming  of  his  presence. 
Disguised  as  a  sailor,  he  got  ashore  safely  at  Vera 
Cruz  and  made  his  way  back  to  Oaxaca,  where  he 
soon  raised  his  standard  over  a  considerable  body 
of  followers.  An  army  was  sent  to  capture  him, 
but  instead  was  captured.  Diaz  marched  on  tri- 
umphantly to  the  City  of  Mexico,  whence  the  pres- 
ident— whose  last  election  was  undoubtedly  won 
by  fraud — had  fled  to  the  United  States.  Diaz 
assumed  the  presidency  provisionally,  and  in  1877 


MEXICO'S  PRESIDENT  101 

was  elected  constitutional  president.  There  has 
been  but  one  other  president  since  then,  from 
1880-83,  and  his  administration  put  a  stop  to 
progress.  Then  in  1884,  Diaz  was  re-elected  and 
has  been  re-elected  in  every  campaign  since  then. 
In  1904,  the  Mexican  Congress  passed  a  law 
making  the  presidential  term  six  years.  There  is 
little  danger  of  any  serious  disturbance  of  his 
administration." 

Koy  and  Kay  gave  a  sigh  of  satisfaction,  and 
were  surprised  to  hear  their  mother  say, ' '  But  the 
things  he  has  accomplished  as  president  have  been 
best  of  all,  haven't  they?" 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  "his  hand  has  been 
the  strongest  Mexico  has  ever  had  at  the  helm, 
and  one  can  understand  when  one  comes  here  and 
sees  the  people  that  a  paternal  government  is 
what  Mexico  needs,  though  the  forms  are  those  of 
a  republic." 

"Why,  isn't  Mexico  a  republic?"  asked  Roy, 
surprised. 

"Not  in  the  sense  that  our  country  is,"  was  his 
father's  reply.  "There  is  no  real  manhood- 
suffrage  here — that  is,  not  every  man  votes,  for 


102  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

many  of  the  people  are  entirely  unfit  to  govern 
themselves.  Only  educated  men  vote,  and  the 
others  never  dream  of  protesting,  apparently. 
Never  having  had  a  vote  they  do  not  feel  dis- 
franchised, and  so  long  as  the  country  is  peaceful 
and  prosperous,  they  have  no  cause  of  complaint. 
Perhaps,  years  from  now,  when  public  education 
shall  have  done  its  work,  the  country  may  be  a 
republic  in  the  full  sense  of  the  word  as  we  under- 
stand it." 

"Tell  the  children  some  of  the  things  Diaz  has 
done,  as  president,"  suggested  Mrs.  Stevens. 

"Well,  for  one  thing  he  put  an  end  to  brigand- 
age. The  country  had  been  infested  with  robber 
bands  and  travel  was  more  unsafe  than  in  any 
other  part  of  the  world.  Diaz  held  a  parley  with 
the  captains  of  the  banditti  and  gave  them  their 
choice — either  to  stop  robbing  and  plundering 
and  to  be  formed  into  a  sort  of  country  mounted 
police  to  keep  the  countryside  in  order,  or  to  be 
speedily  put  to  death.  They  knew  that  he  meant 
what  he  said,  and  choosing  to  be  mounted  con- 
stabulary, were  formed  into  bodies  of  what  are 
called  the  rurales   (ru-ral'-es).     They  kept  their 


MEXICO'S  PRESIDENT  103 

word  and  ceased  plundering,  and  the  present 
rurales,  who  never  were  banditti,  are  a  most  valu- 
able set  of  officers.  When  they  take  part  in  pro- 
cessions, the  people  applaud  them  more  than  any 
others,  partly,  I  suppose,  because  there  were  some 
romantic,  popular  heroes  among  the  original 
brigands." 

"Wasn't  that  a  smart  trick?"  exclaimed  Roy, 
admiringly,  while  Ray  said,  "It's  just  like  what 
Aunt  Susie  did  when  she  had  those  bad  boys  in 
the  mission  school.  She  found  out  the  worst  one 
and  gave  him  charge  of  the  conduct  of  the  other 
boys,  and  he  was  the  best  help  she  had." 

"Another  thing  Diaz  did  was  to  bring  harmony 
into  the  relations  between  the  states.  Mexico  has 
twenty-eight  states,  and  they  were  so  jealous  of 
one  another  that  they  had  different  and  conflicting 
laws  and  taxed  one  another's  goods,  so  that  a 
citizen  had  to  go  through  the  customs  every  time 
he  crossed  a  state  line.  This  was  all  done  away 
with,  and  gradually  the  railroad  and  telegraph 
were  introduced,  binding  the  states  together,  until 
now  Mexico  has  as  cheap  and  good  railway  service 
as  any  in  the  world;  cheaper  than  that  of  the 


104  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

United  States.*    He  introduced  civil  service  into 
the  public  business,  so  that  a  good  official  is  not 
afraid  of  being  removed  because  of  his  politics. 
He  found  that  Mexican  money  had  no  standing 
at  all  in  other  countries;  and  he  has  given  the 
country  national  credit  by  improving  the  currency. 
And,  best  of  all,  because  it  is  most  likely  to  have 
lasting  effects  and  to  secure  the  future,  he  has 
established  public  schools  in  every  part  of  the 
country,  to  which  parents  are  required  to  send 
their  children;  normal  schools  to  train  teachers, 
and  industrial  schools  to  fit  young  people   for 
making  a  living."    Mr.  Stevens  paused  a  minute, 
and  then  asked,   "Well,  what  do  you  think   of 
him?" 

"Why,  father,  I  don't  see  but  that  he's  as  big 
as  Washington — and  Washington  had  smart  men 
to  help  him,  and  Diaz  has  had  to  do  it  all  alone," 
said  Roy. 

"No,  not  that  exactly — he  has  had  and  has  some 
very  able  men  in  his  cabinet ;  but  he  is  responsible 
for  originating  the  idea  of  all  this  and  for  finding 

*  Very  recently  the  government  has  bought  all  the  railroad 
lines  owned  by  Mexican  companies. 


MEXICO'S  PRESIDENT  105 

the  men  who  could  carry  it  out.  One  of  his  latest 
steps  has  been  to  make  the  teaching  of  English 
compulsory  in  the  public  schools,  so  that  the 
people,  in  future,  will  have  two  native  languages, 
so  to  speak." 

"Father,   you  said  something   about   his   first 
wife.    Did  she  die?"  asked  Ray.    "Yes,  in  1880, 
after  they  had  been  married  thirteen  years.    In 
1883,  he  married  his  present  wife,  a  very  beauti- 
ful, distinguished,  and  cultivated  woman.    He  has 
one  son,  named  for  his  father,  and  two  daughters." 
"And  we  are  going  to  see  him  to-morrow!"  re- 
peated  Ray,    squeezing   Roy's    hand    with    such 
ardour  as  to  call  the  attention  of  some  Mexican 
gentlemen,  who  could  not  help  smiling.    This  re- 
minded her  that  she  was  on  a   street-car,   and 
gradually  their  attention  was  attracted  again  by 
the  street  sights  as  they  approached  their  stop- 
ping-place. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

MEXICAN  SPECIALTIES 

The  evening  came  at  last,  and  the  Stevens 
family  found  themselves  at  the  entrance  to  the 
patio  of  the  Clarkes'  home.  It  was  a  detached 
house,  so  that  the  rooms  around  the  patio  had 
light  from  outside  as  well  as  from  the  court,  which 
is  not  the  case  with  most  Mexican  houses,  as  they 
are  built  usually  close  together.  The  patio  was 
lighted  by  an  electric  light,  which  was  not  in  a 
prominent  place  and  which  flooded  the  court  with 
a  very  fair  imitation  of  moonlight,  outlining  the 
shadows  of  the  vines  and  potted  plants  on  the 
cement  floor  and  making  the  water  of  the  fountain 
glitter  as  it  rose  and  fell.  A  mocking-bird  in  a 
cage  was  singing  as  they  entered,  and  there  was 
the  scent  of  roses  everywhere.  Ray,  in  particular, 
thought  it  enchanting.  A  Mexican  servant  wel- 
comed them  in  English  and  brought  them  to  the 
stairway  which  led  to  the  living-rooms,  and  at  the 

106 


MEXICAN  SPECIALTIES  107 

top  of  the  stairs  stood  Mr.  Clarke  and  his  wife 
and  son,  a  boy  of  twelve  years  of  age.  It  was  very 
delightful  to  meet  Americans  and  be  able  to  dis- 
cuss American  affairs,  for  even  to  the  Stevenses, 
who  were  only  a  little  more  than  two  weeks  away 
from  home,  the  States  seemed  very  distant,  while 
to  the  Clarkes,  who  had  not  been  in  the  States 
for  two  years,  arrivals  so  recent  were  a  mine  of 
information  and  news.  So  they  were  soon  in  ani- 
mated conversation,  comparing  things  Mexican 
with  things  American,  while  Harry  Clarke  was 
very  glad  to  show  Roy  and  Ray  his  tools,  his 
games,  and  even  his  text-books,  in  all  which  they 
were  very  much  interested. 

"Do  you  go  to  school  here?"  asked  Roy. 

"Yes,  now  I  do.  They  were  going  to  send  me 
to  the  States  to  school,  but  there  has  been  an 
American  school  started  here,  with  American 
teachers  and  books  and  American  ways  of  teach- 
ing, so  mother  is  very  glad  to  keep  me  here  a  few 
years  longer.  I  shall  be  able  to  get  ready  for 
college  down  here  just  as  well  as  anywhere." 

"Do  all  the  American  boys  and  girls  go  to  it .'" 
asked  Roy. 


108  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

"A  great  many  do.  It  is  quite  a  large  school. 
This  year  we  have  195  pupils  to  begin  with,  115 
boys  and  80  girls." 

"Why,  has  school  begun?"  asked  Ray,  in  aston- 
ishment. 

"Yes,  the  schools  here  have  only  one  or  two 
months  of  vacation,  and  the  American  school 
begins  the  second  week  in  July.  I  have  been  at 
school  all  day  to-day." 

"Dear  me!"  exclaimed  Ray,  "only  one  month's 
vacation.    I  don't  think  I  should  like  that." 

"Oh,  of  course,  we  have  a  vacation  at  Christ- 
mas and  there  are  other  holidays.  But  you  know 
it  isn't  hot  here  in  summer,  as  it  is  in  the  States,  so 
there's  no  reason  why  we  shouldn't  have  school." 

"Is  the  school  just  for  the  City  of  Mexico?" 
asked  Ray. 

' '  Oh,  no !  Boys  and  girls  come  from  Vera  Cruz 
and  Puebla  and  from  the  states  of  Hidalgo  and 
Guanajuato,  wherever  there  are  American  fam- 
ilies. And  there  is  a  special  car  run  from  Mixcoac 
(Mix'-kwak)  for  the  children  that  live  in  the 
suburbs,  and  there  is  always  a  teacher  on  the  car 
to  look  after  the  children." 


MEXICAN  SPECIALTIES  109 

''Why,  do  any  very  little  children  conic  ;>"  asked 
Roy,  who  thought  that  otherwise  this  precaution 
was  quite  unnecessary. 

"Yes,  the  school  has  a  kindergarten,  all  the 
grammar  grades,  and  a  high  school.  It  is  a  fine 
thing  for  Americans  to  have  it." 

Just  here,  dinner  was  announced  and  they  all 
went  into  the  dining-room.  "I  thought  you  might 
like  to  taste  some  Mexican  dishes,"  said  Mrs. 
Clarke,  "so  I  have  included  some  in  the  dinner 
this  evening.  We  Americans  modify  them  some- 
what by  not  using  so  much  pepper,  so  that  they 
would  seem  rather  mild  to  Mexicans ;  but  we  find 
the  American  digestion  does  not  take  kindly  to 
the  Mexican  diet,  as  a  rule." 

After  the  soup,  which  the  visitors  all  thought 
delicious,  came  the  first  Mexican  course.  It 
proved  to  be  composed  of  baked  eggs  served  with 
a  delicious  tomato  sauce  and  accompanied  by 
tortillas.  These  looked  to  the  children  like  magni- 
fied "Saratoga  chips,"  as  they  were  thin  and 
brown,  and  crisp,  and  curly  at  the  edges,  but  the 
taste  was  that  of  corn  instead  of  potato.  They 
took  them  up  in  their  fingers  as  they  were  quite 


110  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

dry  and  ate  thein  with  the  egg  as  they  would  have 
eaten  bread.  After  the  roast  course,  which  was 
purely  American,  came  another  Mexican  dish  to 
which  all  did  full  justice — frijoles  (free-hol'-es), 
or  brown  beans,  the  staple  dish  of  the  Mexicans. 
These  were  served  with  a  delicious  white  Mexican 
cheese  grated  over  them.  The  tomato  salad 
would  have  been  American  but  for  one  ingredient, 
the  aguacate  (ah-gwa-cah'-tay),  a  Mexican  fruit 
which  many  Mexicans  use  instead  of  butter  and 
which  makes  a  sort  of  "natural  mayonnaise"  for  a 
salad.  When  ripe,  it  is  almost  black  outside  and 
about  the  size  of  an  ordinary  pear.  When  opened, 
the  hard  nut  in  the  middle  can  be  squeezed  out  by 
a  slight  pressure  of  the  fingers,  and  then  the  light 
green  pulp  is  taken  out  and  spread  upon  the 
tomato  or  cucumber,  or  whatever  composes  the 
salad,  making  a  unique  and  very  delightful  dish. 
The  dinner  closed  with  the  only  appropriate  ending 
to  a  dinner,  in  the  opinion  of  American  children, 
ice  cream,  and  then  the  elders  had  their  little  cups 
of  Mexican  coffee  at  small  tables  in  the  gallery. 
After  a  few  moments  spent  by  the  ladies  in  look- 
ing at  some  of  Mrs.  Clarke's  "finds"  in  the  curio 


MEXICAN  SPECIALTIES  111 

shops,  it  was  time  to  adjourn  to  the  pelota  game. 
It  was  given  at  the  Fronton  Nacional',  which 
means  National  Pelota-Court,  a  large  stone  build- 
ing with  tiers  of  seats  along  one  side  for  the  spec- 
tators. The  party  took  their  seats  in  a  middle 
tier,  and  the  children  gazed  curiously  about  them. 
Stretching  the  whole  length  of  the  building,  in 
front  of  the  seats,  was  the  court,  and  a  high  stone 
wall  on  three  sides  of  it  was  painted  black.  Pres- 
ently, the  four  players,  two  in  blue  and  two  in 
white,  appeared,  amid  the  applause  of  the  specta- 
tors, and  the  game  began.  The  first  part  of  the 
game  is  called  the  partido  (par-tee'-do)  and  con- 
sists of  25-35  points,  according  to  agreement, 
and  one  side  wins,  not  so  much  by  the  points  it 
gains  as  by  what  the  other  side  loses.  Each  man, 
the  children  noticed,  had  a  curved  basket  fastened 
to  his  right  wrist.  The  game  began,  a  blue  player 
taking  the  ball  that  was  in  his  basket  and  throwing 
it  against  the  front  wall.  When  it  bounced  back, 
a  white  player  caught  it  on  the  fly  in  his  basket 
(it  would  have  been  allowable  to  catch  it  on  the 
first  rebound,  also,  Harry  said),  and  he  in  turn 
threw  it  against  the  front  wall,  when  a  blue  player 


112  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

was  expected  to  catch  it  in  his  basket,  in  the  same 
way.  He  did  not,  however,  and  so  a  point  was 
counted  for  the  whites.  Throwing  a  ball  out  of 
bounds  was  also  an  error  to  be  counted  for  the 
enemy,  Harry  said.  This  was  a  short  partido  of 
only  twenty-five  points,  so  this  part  of  the 
game  was  soon  ended  in  favour  of  the  whites  or 
blancos. 

Then  began  the  quiniela  (kee-nee-ay'-la),  or 
second  part  of  the  game.  In  this  there  are  no 
sides,  but  each  man  plays  for  himself.  There  are 
six  players,  and  two  play  at  a  time.  As  soon  as 
one  loses  a  point  he  retires  and  comes  in  again 
only  when  his  regular  turn  comes  around.  The 
first  player  to  win  six  points  has  won  the  quiniela. 
Usually  two  partidos  and  two  quinielas  are  played 
at  a  performance.  Although  Roy  did  not  think  it 
nearly  so  exciting  as  baseball,  he  admired  greatly 
the  skill  with  which  the  baskets  (sestos)  were 
manoeuvred  to  catch  the  ball,  and  the  agility  of  the 
men,  who,  Mr.  Clarke  said,  were  nearly  all  from 
the  Basque  provinces  of  Spain,  where  the  game 
originated.  Toward  the  end,  one  of  the  players 
was  struck  very  hard  on  the  head  by  a  foul  ball, 


MEXICAN  SPECIALTIES  113 

and  had  to  retire  from  the  game  and  have  his  head 
bandaged — which  showed  that  the  game  has  its 
dangers  in  spite  of  its  mild  appearance. 

As  Mr.  Clarke  put  his  guests  into  their  carriage 
to  go  back  to  the  hotel,  he  said  that  he  had  been 
able  to  get  seats  on  the  reviewing  stand  for  the 
next  day,  and  that  they  would  have  an  opportunity 
to  see  President  Diaz  close  at  hand.  Ray,  with 
her  usual  impulsiveness,  threw  her  arms  about  the 
kind  gentleman's  neck  before  her  mother  could 
stop  her,  exclaiming,  "You  are  so  good  to  us,  dear 
Mr.  Clarke.  We  want  to  see  the  President  more 
than  anybody  or  anything!"  Mr.  Clarke  did  not 
seem  at  all  offended,  but  kissed  her  forehead 
gently  and  turned  away  with  moist  eyes.  They 
learned  afterward  that  the  Clarkes  had  lost  a  little 
girl  of  about  Ray's  age  only  two  years  before. 
Perhaps  it  was  the  first  time  he  had  had  a  little 
girl's  arms  around  his  neck  since  then.  Ray  was 
not  sure,  when  she  heard  this,  whether  she  ought 
to  have  done  it  or  not,  but  as  Mr.  Clarke  was 
always  especially  kind  to  her  afterward,  she  con- 
cluded that  she  had  not  done  wrong,  although,  as 
her  mother  warned  her,  she  had  taken  a  risk  in 


114  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

giving  way  to  her  feelings  so  openly.  "Some 
people  would  not  have  liked  it  at  all,"  said  Mrs. 
Stevens,  "and  then  you  would  have  felt  very 
silly." 

"Yes,  but  I  wouldn't  feel  like  doing  it  to  that 
kind  of  people,"  argued  Ray;  and  as  the  little 
burst  of  affection  had  proved  acceptable,  her 
mother  thought  best  to  say  nothing  more,  though 
she  often  wondered  into  what  difficulties  Ray's 
impulsiveness  might  lead  her  in  future. 

"Father,"  asked  Roy,  as  they  drove  homeward, 
"are  we  going  to  a  bull-fight?" 

"I'm  not,"  exclaimed  Ray,  "I  wouldn't  go  for 
anything. ' ' 

"Nor  I,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens. 

"Well,  Roy,  it  looks  as  if  you  and  I  would  have 
to  decide  the  matter  for  ourselves  only,  as  the 
others  do  not  care  to  go.  I  am  glad  they  don't,  for 
my  part.    Why  do  you  wish  to  go  ? " 

Roy  said  slowly,  "I  don't  know  that  I  do  wish  to 
go— I  asked  just  to  find  out  if  you  planned  to  take 


us." 


"No,"  said  his  father,  "and  I  hoped  you  would 
not  think  of  it.    But  now,  we  will  do  as  you  think 


MEXICAN  SPECIALTIES  115 

best.  You  have  read  about  the  fights,  haven't 
you?" 

"Yes,  lots  of  times." 

"You  know  about  how  it  is  done?" 

"Yes." 

"Then  do  you  wish  to  see  it?  You  know  that 
every  one  who  goes  encourages  the  sport  just  that 
much. ' ' 

Roy  felt  pretty  sure  that  it  would  not  do  for 
him  to  go  back  to  the  States  and  tell  his  boy- 
friends he  had  been  in  Mexico  and  had  not  seen  a 
bull-fight,  but  he  had  not  the  moral  courage  to 
confess  that  this  was  his  chief  reason  for  wishing 
to  go;  so  he  said,  "Well,  it's  like  the  circus.  Hear- 
ing about  it  is  not  the  same  thing  as  seeing  it ;  but 
if  you  don't  wish  me  to  go,  father,  all  right." 

"I  wish  to  leave  it  entirely  to  you,"  said  Mr. 
Stevens,  "but  I  want  you  to  know  first  exactly 
how  it  looks  to  me.  The  sport  is  a  cruel  one  and 
has  a  bad  effect  on  the  spectators,  making  them  in- 
different to  suffering,  and  willing  to  encourage 
suffering  that  is  entirely  unnecessary,  just  for 
their  own  amusement.  Every  one  who  goes, 
whether  he  approve  or  not,  lends  the  influence  of 


116  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

his  presence  to  continue  the  popularity  of  the 
sport.  The  better  class  of  Spaniards  are  begin- 
ning to  be  a  little  ashamed  of  it,  and  the  young 
King  of  Spain  is  trying  to  do  away  with  it  or  at 
least  to  lessen  its  cruelty.  It  is  not  in  harmony 
with  the  spirit  of  the  times,  which  condemns 
cruelty.  These  are  my  reasons  for  not  wishing  to 
go." 

''Have  you  ever  been,  father?"  asked  Ray. 

"No,  I  have  never  seen  a  bull-fight,  and,  in  a 
way,  I  suppose  I  have  as  much  curiosity  as  Roy. 
There  is  to  be  a  fight  on  Sunday  afternoon,  the 
only  day  on  which  they  are  given  in  summer,  and 
I  will  take  Roy  if  he  says  so." 

"Well,  it  ended  in  Roy's  deciding  that  he  ought 
to  see  it,  so  as  to  tell  the  boys  at  home  about  it. 
However,  there  was  not  much  to  tell,  for,  although 
he  went  and  enjoyed  the  sight  of  the  audience  and 
the  entering  procession,  as  gaudy  as  that  of  the 
circus,  he  was  very  much  disturbed  by  the  fact 
that,  early  in  the  fight,  the  rougher  element  of  the 
public,  displeased  with  one  of  the  picadores,  threw 
seats  and  boards  at  the  men  and  had  to  be  quieted 
by  the  soldiers  who  were  present  for  the  purpose. 


MEXICAN  SPECIALTIES  117 

Then  the  picadores,  who  are  no  longer  as  skilful 
as  in  the  past,  were  not  able  to  keep  their  horses 
out  of  the  reach  of  the  bull;  and  when  Roy,  who 
was  very  fond  of  animals  and  especially  of  horses, 
saw  one  poor  creature  lying  in  the  arena  breath- 
ing its  last  and  another  with  its  entrails  hanging 
out,  he  set  his  teeth  and  said  to  his  father,  "I've 
had  enough,"  and  they  came  away.  As  they  made 
their  exit,  they  met  other  Americans  who  had 
gone,  like  Roy,  from  curiosity,  and  who  also  had 
had  enough.  "I  can't  stand  for  that  sort  of 
thing,"  they  heard  one  man  say.  "It's  all  very 
well  for  the  men — they  know  what  they  are  doing, 
and  if  they  want  to  take  the  risk,  all  right;  but 
those  poor,  inoffensive  horses — excuse  me." 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE  GLORIOUS  FOURTH  IN  MEXICO 

The  next  morning  Roy  and  Ray  were  prepared 
to  be  waked  very  early  by  the  firing  of  cannon  and 
popping  of  firecrackers,  and  were  much  surprised 
to  find  everything  quiet,  the  shops  open,  and 
people  going  about  their  business  as  usual.  "They 
don't  even  have  the  flag  up,"  said  Roy,  quite  dis- 
gusted. 

Mr.  Stevens  laughed.  "Why  should  they?"  he 
said,  "this  isn't  a  Mexican  holiday.  We  don't 
decorate  and  celebrate  on  the  sixteenth  of  Sep- 
tember, why  should  they  on  the  Fourth  of  July? 
However,  if  you  are  disappointed  in  not  seeing  the 
flag  on  the  main  business  streets,  you  will  doubt- 
less see  it  flying  over  the  consulate,  the  American 
school  and  American  houses,  and  also  plenty  of  it 
in  the  Tivoli  garden  where  the  celebration  is  to  be 
held." 

They  were  walking  down  toward  the  garden 

118 


THE  GLORIOUS  FOURTH  IN  MEXICO    119 

as  he  spoke,  for  they  were  to  meet  the  Clarkes 
there  at  ten.  The  square  was  full  of  carriages  and 
automobiles,  and  there  were  officials  at  the  gate  to 
take  tickets,  and  many  sellers  of  flags  and  badges 
and  buttons  to  decorate  the  newcomers  who  were 
willing  to  be  decorated.  The  children  bought 
these  eagerly,  and  were  soon  carrying  small  flags 
and  wearing  badges  in  which  the  American  and 
Mexican  colours  were  combined.  Roy  had  rather 
preferred  a  "straight"  American  badge,  but  Ray 
had  said  stoutly,  ' '  I  think  we  ought  to  wear  both ; 
we're  in  Mexico  and  they're  treating  the  Ameri- 
cans very  nicely,  and  we're  going  to  see  the  Presi- 
dent, and  I  think  it's  only  polite,"  and  at  last  he 
was  convinced.  They  had  both  noticed  that  Harry 
Clarke  had  a  little  paper  bag  under  his  arm  and 
a  mischievous  look  in  his  eye,  but  they  had  not 
connected  the  two. 

"What's  all  this!  How  did  it  get  there?"  asked 
Ray,  pointing  to  the  ground,  which  was  strewed 
with  little  disks  of  paper  in  all  colours. 

"This  is  what  it  is,"  replied  Harry,  showing  his 
paper  bag,  "and  this  is  how  it  got  there!"  and 
he  showered  them  both  with  handfuls  of  the  little 


120  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

disks,  confetti,  used  in  all  Latin  countries  in  public 
merrymaking  and  gradually  coming  into  use  in 
our  own.  The  children  laughed  heartily  as  they 
shook  it  out  of  their  hair,  their  clothes,  and  even 
out  of  their  eyebrows  and  eyelashes.  "Now,  I'll 
show  you  where  to  get  some,"  said  Harry,  but 
before  he  could  take  them  to  the  booth,  some 
venders  came  along  and  sold  the  three  children 
their  whole  stock. 

"But  we  don't  know  anybody  to  throw  it  at," 
said  Ray. 

"Oh,  you  don't  have  to  know  people — only  I 
never  throw  at  grown  people  unless  it's  some  one 
I  know.  I'll  show  you  some  of  my  friends  you 
can  pelt  with  it.    Father ! ' '  called  Harry. 

"Yes,  Harry?" 

"I'm  going  to  take  Roy  and  Ray  around  to  see 
the  fun.    Where  will  you  and  mother  stay?" 

"We  shall  be  near  here  somewhere,  not  far 
from  the  entrance.  But  don't  let  your  friends 
miss  the  President's  entry." 

"No,  I'll  keep  watch,"  said  Harry.  "Now, 
come  on.  Whenever  I  say  ' Quick,'  you  look  to  see 
where  I'm  looking,  and  then  let  fly." 


THE  GLORIOUS  FOURTH   IN   MEXICO     121 

"Well,  I  think  it's  lots  more  fun  than  fire- 
crackers," said  Kay,  "they  don't  hurt  anybody, 
and  they  aren't  dirty,  and  you  don't  have  that 
dreadful  smell  of  gunpowder." 

"No,  and  you  don't  find  a  long  list  of  killed  and 
wounded  in  the  paper,  the  next  day,"  said  Harry. 
"A  fellow  does  miss  the  noise,  of  course." 

"Well,  there's  noise  enough,  only  it's  another 
kind,"  said  Ray,  as  a  procession  of  small  boys 
came  by  blowing  horns  and  drowning  the  band, 
which  was  playing  The  Star  Spangled  Banner 
under  difficulties. 

"They  ought  not  to  come  around  where  the 
band  is,"  said  Harry,  "it's  no  fun  to  spoil  good 
music  like  that.  Say,  let's  throw  confetti  down 
their  horns  when  they  turn  this  way  again."  The 
children  waited  their  opportunity,  which  soon 
came,  and  threw  handfuls  of  confetti  into  the 
mouths  of  the  horns,  putting  a  sudden  stop  to  the 
blare  and  making  the  blowers  puff  and  blow  in 
vain. 

"What  do  you  want  to  spoil  our  fun  for?"  ex- 
claimed the  leader,  angrily. 

"What   did   you    spoil    theirs    for?"    retorted 


122  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

Harry,  pointing  to  the  band,  the  members  of 
which  were  looking  at  one  another  in  despair. 
''Go  anywhere  away  from  the  band  and  we'll  let 
you  alone." 

"Oh,"  said  the  boy,  looking  at  the  band,  "I 
never  noticed  'em.  All  right,  don't  make  any 
difference  to  us  where  we  go,"  and  he  led  his  fol- 
lowers in  another  direction,  tooting  away  as  if  the 
life  of  the  United  States  depended  upon  noise. 

"I  thought  they  just  hadn't  noticed,"  said 
Harry,  "they're  good  enough  little  fellows  when 
they  once  think  of  a  thing.  Quick!"  Roy  and 
Ray  turned.  A  very  jolly-looking  man  with  two 
ladies  was  just  passing.  "Pepper  him!"  whis- 
pered Harry,  and  they  did.  "It's  our  consul," 
explained  Harry,  "he  won't  mind,"  and  just  then 
the  consul  turned  quickly,  and  though  Harry  was 
by  that  time  looking  innocently  in  another  direc- 
tion, he  knew  at  once  the  origin  of  his  very 
thorough  decoration  and  came  over  to  shake 
Harry  good-naturedly  by  the  shoulders.  ' '  Teach- 
ing visitors  these  saucy  Mexican  tricks,  too,"  he 
said,  as  he  brushed  confetti  from  his  moustache 
and  fished  them  out  of  his  shirt  bosom  and  blew 


THE  GLORIOUS  FOURTH  IN  MEXICO    123 

them  out  from  under  his  cuffs.  "Do  you  know 
how  I'm  going  to  punish  you  for  showing  no  more 
respect  for  your  country's  representative?" 

"No,"  said  Harry,  laughing,  as  he  combed  con- 
fetti out  of  his  hair,  the  consul  having  suddenly 
produced  a  handful  from  some  mysterious  source 
and  poured  it  over  him. 

"I'm  going  to  have  you  sentenced  to  come  here 
in  the  morning  and  help  sweep  out  the  place," 
said  the  consul,  looking  back  with  mock  severity, 
as  he  and  his  party  moved  on. 

"That  wouldn't  be  any  joke,"  explained  Harry, 
"if  he  meant  it,  for  the  ground  here  is  covered 
about  a  foot  deep  with  confetti  by  the  time  the 
fun  is  over.  Listen ! ' '  They  all  paused  suddenly 
and  stood  listening.  "There  comes  the  band! 
The  President's  coming — let's  go  back  to  the  folks 
and  get  good  places  to  see  the  presidential  party 
come  in." 

They  hurried  back  and  were  in  plenty  of  time 
to  see  the  little  group  of  officials  enter.  Ray 
grasped  Roy's  hand  and  held  it  tight.  "There  he 
is !"  she  exclaimed,  "in  the  middle,  that  nice,  dark- 
haired  man  with  the  grey  moustache."    And  sure 


124  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

enough,  there  he  was,  at  last.  Tall  and  straight 
and  soldierly,  in  spite  of  his  seventy-six  years,  his 
dark  eyes  looking  about  him  in  a  kindly,  modest 
way,  as  if  unconscious  that  he  was  under  scrutiny, 
he  walked  between  the  two  files  of  soldiers  stand- 
ing on  either  side  the  path,  while  the  best  band  in 
Mexico  played  the  National  Hymn.*  "It  is  never 
played  in  the  Federal  District,"  said  Harry,  "ex- 
cept when  the  president  appears." 

"What's  the  Federal  District?"  asked  Roy. 

"Come,  children,"  called  Mr.  Clarke,  just  then, 
"we  must  hurry  and  take  our  seats,"  and  as  they 
all  followed  him  and  the  other  grown-up  members 
of  the  party,  Harry  had  only  time  to  say,  "I'll 
tell  you  about  it  later."  In  a  few  moments,  they 
had  taken  their  seats  in  the  reviewing  stand  and 
were  quietly  listening  to  their  own  old  Declaration 
of  Independence. 

"Doesn't  it  sound  good?"  whispered  Roy,  and 
his  father,  hearing  him,  smiled  and  patted  his 
shoulder.  At  home,  it  isn't  the  fashion  to  read 
the  Declaration  in  most  places,  and  a  great  many 

*  The  words  and  music  of  the  National  Hymn  are  given  at 
the  end  of  the  book. 


THE  GLORIOUS  FOURTH  IN  MEXICO    125 

people  seem  to  forget  what  the  Fourth  of  July  is 
all  about.  But  in  a  foreign  country,  it  is  generally 
read  every  Fourth  of  July  if  there  is  any  celebra- 
tion at  all. 

After  the  Declaration,  there  were  two  speeches, 
one  of  them  by  the  American  ambassador.  Then 
there  was  a  general  handshaking  and  the  moment 
the  children  longed  for  had  come.  They  stood 
quietly,  but  very  much  stirred  up  within,  while 
their  father  and  mother  were  presented  to  the 
President  and  his  party  and  to  the  ambassador, 
and  at  last  began  to  fear  they  were  to  be  forgotten ; 
but  the  President  himself  kindly  prevented  that. 
Catching  sight  of  their  bright,  expectant  eyes  be- 
hind the  group,  he  turned  to  them  and  held  out  his 
hand,  saying,  "And  are  these  little  ones  from 
the  States,  too?" 

The  children  forgot  the  proper  form  of  address, 
if  indeed  they  knew  it,  for  in  all  their  antici- 
pations of  the  meeting  they  had  never  asked  them- 
selves what  their  own  part  should  be,  but  had  only 
wondered  what  the  President  would  do  and  say. 
And  now  all  they  could  think  of  was  "General 
President."    So  they  said,  "Yes,  General  Presi- 


126  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

dent,"  in  concert,  and  put  their  small  paws  in  his 
large,  firm  hand  with  the  greatest  confidence,  ad- 
miration shining  out  of  their  eyes  so  plainly  that 
he  could  not  help  seeing  it. 

"And  what  do  you  think  of  Mexico?"  he  asked 
quizzically. 

"We  like  it,"  said  Roy,  modestly,  while  Ray 
added  impulsively, ' '  and  we  feel  now  as  if  we  had 
seen  George  Washington." 

The  President  and  those  around  him  smiled,  and 
he  was  evidently  not  displeased  and  gave  them  a 
final  pressure  of  the  hand,  shaking  his  head  and 
saying,  "Ah,  no,  that  is  too  much!"  to  Ray's 
simple  compliment. 

Then  Harry  whispered  to  the  children  that  the 
races  were  about  to  begin  and  suggested  that  they 
go  down  into  the  garden  again  and  get  close  to 
the  running  track.  There  were  all  kinds  of  races, 
and  they  lasted  all  day  long — races  of  boys,  of 
men,  of  little  children,  of  young  girls,  and  of 
married  women — not  very  dignified  races,  some  of 
them,  and  Ray  said  she  didn't  suppose  Americans 
would  be  willing  to  make  themselves  ridiculous 
like  that  for  everybody  to  see. 


THE  GLORIOUS  FOURTH   IN   MEXICO     127 

"Oh,  yes,  you  would  see  plenty  of  this  kind  of 
thing,  if  you  were  in  some  places  in  the  States, 
to-day,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  "and  there  we  should 
think  nothing  of  it  and  should  just  say  that  people 
were  having  a  good  time." 

"When  do  you  suppose  we  are  going  to  have 
something  to  eat?"  whispered  Roy  to  his  mother. 

"We  must  wait  until  the  President  goes  to  his 
luncheon,"  answered  Mrs.  Stevens.  "He  will  go 
soon,  and  I  believe  your  father  and  Mr.  Clarke  are 
invited  to  luncheon  with  him." 

And  in  a  few  moments,  the  presidential  party 
moved  toward  a  small,  wooden  building  on  the 
grounds  into  which,  for  some  time  past,  the 
children  had  seen  waiters  carrying  cold  meats  and 
salads  and  bottles  of  wine.  "Now  we  can  go  and 
find  something  to  eat,"  said  Mrs.  Clarke.  "Harry, 
you  lead  the  way  to  any  one  of  the  restaurants 
here  and  we'll  just  take  a  little  luncheon  to  serve 
until  we  can  get  back  home."  They  soon  found  a 
table  in  an  open  pavilion,  and  ate  what  Harry 
called  "a  red-white-and-blue  Hail  Columbia 
lunch."  They  had  cold  turkey  ("But  that's  both 
an  American  and  a  Mexican  bird,  you  know,"  said 


128  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

Harry),  and  Saratoga  chips,  and  sliced  cucumbers, 
of  which  the  visitors  were  very  properly  rather 
shy,  and  finally  two  kinds  of  pie.    "But  I  haven't 
had  enough,  have  you,  Roy?"  asked  Harry.    Roy 
confessed  that  he  could  hold  a  little  more.    "Say, 
let's  have  some  tamales!    Have  you  had  any  yet? 
No?     Then  let's  have  some  if  this  fellow's  got 
any."    The  tamales  were  produced,  and  Roy  and 
Ray  watched  Harry  open  his,  with  great  curiosity. 
It  was  something  wrapped  in  corn-husks  and  had 
been  cooked  in  that  way.    As  the  successive  blades 
of  the  husk  were  turned  back,  between  each  two 
was  a  layer  of  corn-paste  much  like  the  substance 
of  the  tortillas,  but  steamed  and  moist  instead  of 
baked  and  dry.    In  the  heart  of  the  tamale  were 
some  rice,  some  chicken  giblets,  and  a  little  cooked 
fruit.    Harry  ate  his  with  gusto,  but  Roy,  after 
one  or  two  tastes,  decided  that  it  would  be  some 
time  before  he  should  learn  to  like  tamales;  and 
he  filled  up  the  hollow  space  reserved  for  them 
with  some  candy  Ray  had  bought. 

"After  awhile,"  said  Mrs.  Clarke,  "we  can  go 
over  to  the  ice  cream  booth  and  have  some  ice 
cream. ' ' 


THE  GLORIOUS  FOURTH  IN  MEXICO     129 

"Yes,  indeed,"  said  Harry,  "it  wouldn't  be  the 
Fourth  of  July  without  ice  cream."  And  that 
was  the  way  in  which  they  ended  the  afternoon, 
going  home  rather  early,  so  as  to  come  back  for 
the  fireworks  in  the  evening. 

When  evening  came,  however,  Mrs.  Stevens  and 
Ray  were  too  tired  to  go  out  again,  and  so  Roy 
and  his  father  went  without  them.  They  found 
the  rockets  very  beautiful,  but  the  fireworks  in 
general  lacking  in  the  variety  that  they  were  used 
to  at  home ;  and  they  were  surprised,  both  of  them, 
to  find  how  well  the  Fourth  could  be  celebrated 
without  gunpowder. 

"Father,  what  did  Harry  mean  by  the  Federal 
District?"  asked  Roy,  who  had  not  forgotten  that 
there  was  one  point  on  which  his  desire  for  in- 
formation was  not  satisfied. 

"The  Federal  District  here  means  about  the 
same  as  the  District  of  Columbia  at  home,"  said 
Mr.  Stevens.  "It  is  a  district  belonging  to  the 
general  government,  and  not  to  any  of  the  states. 
Here  it  comprises  about  four  hundred  and  fifty 
square  miles,  and  the  City  of  Mexico  is  its  capital. 
The  general  government  makes  its  laws." 


130  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

"I  don't  believe  I  know  anything  about  the 
government  of  Mexico, ' '  said  Roy.  ' '  I  know  there 
are  twenty-eight  states,  and  that's  about  all." 

"Yes,  and  one  territory,  that  of  Tepic,  not 
much  larger  than  the  Federal  District.  Every 
state  has  two  senators,  but  instead  of  serving 
six  years  as  ours  do,  they  are  elected  for  two  years 
at  a  time  on  alternate  years,  one  senator  each  year. 
Then  there  is  one  representative  for  every  forty 
thousand  of  population  or  fraction  of  more  than 
twenty  thousand  in  each  state,  and  these  repre- 
sentatives form  the  Chamber  of  Deputies.  All  but 
four  of  the  states  have  railways  now,  those  four 
being  Chiapas,  Sinaloa,  Tabasco,  and  Lower  Cali- 
fornia, and  they  are  on  the  coast  and  have  good 
harbours." 

"Lower  California?"  asked  Roy  in  surprise. 
"Does  that  belong  to  Mexico?  I  thought  it  be- 
longed to  the  United  States." 

"You  are  thinking  of  Southern  California," 
said  his  father,  "Lower  California  has  never  be- 
longed to  us,  and  it  is  a  pity  that  the  name  can't 
be  changed,  for  it  is  misleading.  It  is  perhaps  as 
unknown   a   piece   of  country   as   any   in  North 


THE  GLORIOUS  FOURTH  IN    MEXICO     131 

America.  Some  prospectors  once  Landed  there, 
along  in  the  sixties  I  believe,  and  were  never  seen 
again,  and  it  is  supposed  they  were  murdered.  If 
a  railroad  should  ever  be  put  through  the  state, 
things  would  change  and  improve  there  rapidly,  in 
all  probability;  but  now  it  is  the  last  place  to 
which  a  traveller  would  care  to  go. 

"Here  we  are  at  the  hotel.  I've  had  a  very 
satisfactory  Fourth  of  July.    How  about  you?" 

"Fine!"  said  Roy,  "but  I'm  mighty  sleepy 
now." 


CHAPTER  X 
THE  CONQUEST 

" Before  we  go  to  the  Museum,"  said  Mr. 
Stevens,  one  morning,  "I  think  we  ought  to  have 
some  account  of  the  Conquest  of  Mexico.  I  am 
very  rusty  on  some  parts  of  it,  and  I  think  you, 
Helen,  are  the  only  one  of  the  party  who  has  been 
re-reading  the  story.  Can't  you  tell  us  about  it 
this  afternoon,  when  we  come  in  from  our  sight- 
seeing?" 

' '  I  have  just  been  thinking  of  that,  and  wonder- 
ing whether  I  could  tell  the  story  briefly  and  at  the 
same  time  make  it  interesting  to  the  children," 
replied  Mrs.  Stevens.  "I'll  try  if  you  are  not  all 
too  tired.  Can't  we  go  somewhere  out  of  doors, 
and  sit  where  we  can  look  at  something  that  will 
help  to  make  the  story  seem  true?" 

"Why  not  to  the  tree  of  La  Noche  Triste?"  sug- 
gested Mr.  Stevens. 

"The  very  thing,  and  if  we  go  out  about  half- 

132 


THE  CONQUEST  133 

past  three,  we  shall  be  done  with  our  story  before 
the  driving  begins  and  shall  be  able  to  come  back 
and  see  the  carriages." 

The  children  were  delighted  with  this  arrange- 
ment, and  at  the  hour  appointed  they  all  boarded 
a  car  at  the  Plaza.  It  did  not  take  them  long  to 
reach  Popotla  and  the  famous  tree  which  is  an 
ahuehuetl  (ah-way-way'-tl),  a  kind  of  cypress. 
Some  years  ago  some  Indians  kindled  a  fire  be- 
neath it  and  injured  it  seriously,  and  since  then  it 
has  been  protected  by  an  iron  railing.  The  chil- 
dren looked  with  interest  at  the  great  tree,  four 
hundred  years  old,  at  least,  and  they  wanted  to 
know  why  it  was  called  the  tree  of  the  Sad  Night. 
"All  in  good  time,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  as  they 
seated  themselves  on  a  long  bench.  "Let  mother 
tell  her  story  and  we  shall  come  to  the  tree  in  due 


course." 


"Long,  long  before  the  Spaniards  found  this 
country,"  began  Mrs.  Stevens,  "it  was  occupied 
by  Indians  who  were  partly  civilised — at  least, 
they  had  a  kind  of  civilisation  of  their  own  and 
were  not  in  the  least  like  the  Indians  of  North 
America.    The  only  records  we  have  of  them  are 


134  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

some  picture-writings  on  cloth  made  of  the 
maguey-plant,  of  which  we  have  seen  so 
much  in  the  Valley  of  Mexico.  According  to 
these,  we  can  trace  their  history  back  to  the 
seventh  century,  twelve  hundred  years  and  more 
ago. ' ' 

"My!"  exclaimed  Ray,  "it  makes  me  tired  to 
think  of  so  many  hundred  years ! ' ' 

' '  I  am  not  going  to  tell  you  everything  that  hap- 
pened in  them,  so  don't  be  frightened,"  said  Mrs. 
Stevens,  smiling.  "The  first  tribe  we  hear  of  is 
the  Toltecs,  and  they  lived  here  until  about  the 
twelfth  century,  when  they  were  driven  out  by  the 
Chichimecs ;  there  were  other  tribes  also,  and  then 
toward  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century,  the  Aztecs 
appear  in  history,  the  tribe  found  in  the  City  of 
Mexico  by  the  Spaniards,  after  the  Aztecs  had 
occupied  the  valley  some  three  hundred  years. 
The  Aztecs  called  their  country  Anahuac  (An-ah'- 
hwac),  and  their  capital,  which  stood  where  the 
City  of  Mexico  stands  now,  was  named  Tenochtit'- 
lan,"  (pronounced  as  it  is  spelled).  "Their  prin- 
cipal building  in  the  Capital  stood  just  where  the 
great  Cathedral  stands  now.  The  Aztecs  were  then 


THE  CONQUEST  135 

under  the  rule  of  Moctezuma  (or  Montezuma)  IT, 
whose  family  had  been  reigning  since  about  1460, 
and  they  had  brought  into  subjection  a  great 
many  tribes  in  the  surrounding  country.  They 
forced  them  to  pay  tribute  of  a  great  number  of 
young  men  and  women  every  year,  and  when  these 
poor  young  people  left  their  homes  they  knew  they 
would  never  see  them  again ;  for  the  young  women 
were  forced  to  become  slaves  to  the  Aztecs  and 
the  young  men  were  killed  and  their  hearts  served 
up  as  a  sacrifice  to  the  Aztec  gods.  It  is  even 
said  that  the  rest  of  the  body  was  eaten,  the  Aztecs 
being  cannibals." 

"What  horrible  people!"  exclaimed  Kay,  while 
Eoy  screwed  up  his  face  in  disgust. 

"But  in  a  way  the  Aztecs  were  civilised,"  went 
on  Mrs.  Stevens,  "for  they  lived  in  real  houses 
and  had  fine  public  buildings,  they  made  cloth  and 
worked  in  gold  and  silver,  they  had  ways  of 
reckoning  time,  and  they  had  the  picture-writing 
to  record  their  history.  However,  as  they  were  so 
cruel  to  the  tribes  around  them  it  is  no  wonder 
that  these  tribes  turned  against  them  and  helped 
the  Spaniards  to  conquer  them  when  the  chance 


136  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

came.  When  Columbus  discovered  America  in 
1492,  he  did  not,  as  you  know,  visit  the  mainland, 
only  the  West  Indies;  but  so  much  interest  was 
aroused  by  his  reports  that  from  that  time  on, 
other  Spaniards  were  continually  fitting  out  ex- 
ploring expeditions.  The  first  to  touch  this 
country  was  that  of  Cor'doba  in  1517.  He  landed 
in  Yucatan,  which  is  a  part  of  Mexico  now. 
Another  expedition  came  out  the  next  year,  under 
Grijalva  (Gree-hal'-va),  who  landed  on  an  island 
opposite  Vera  Cruz." 

Mr.  Stevens  had  a  map  and  pointed  out  the 
places  to  the  children  as  their  mother  named  them, 
so  that  they  might  see  just  how  far  each  explorer 
had  gone. 

' '  Then  in  1519  came  Cortez,  with  Alvara'do,  who 
had  come  the  year  before,  as  one  of  his  men.  In 
one  of  the  suburbs  of  the  City  of  Mexico  is  a 
beautiful  house,  once  owned  by  Captain  Alvarado, 
and  now  occupied  by  an  American  lady  who  is  a 
student  of  Mexican  antiquities.  Cortez  had  eleven 
ships,  one  hundred  and  ten  sailors,  sixteen  cavalry- 
men with  their  horses,  over  five  hundred  foot- 
soldiers,  some  Indians  from  Cuba,  and  ten  small 


THE  CONQUEST  137 

cannon.  He  had  two  Indian  prisoners  to  interpret 
for  him,  for  of  course  none  of  the  Spaniards  could 
speak  the  Aztec  language. 

"One  thing  which  very  much  helped  the  Span- 
iards was  a  tradition  which  the  Indian  tribes  had 
of  a  white  man  named  Quetzalcoatl  (Ket-zal- 
co-at'l),  who  was  said  to  have  once  lived  among 
them  and  ruled  mildly  over  them,  teaching  them 
many  things.  Now  they  worshipped  him  under 
the  name  of  God  of  the  Air.  The  legend  ran  that 
after  ruling  them  for  twenty  years  he  had  sailed 
away  from  them  on  a  boat  made  of  snakes,  but  had 
told  them  before  he  went  that  at  some  future  day 
he  or  other  white  men  would  return  and  rule  over 
them  as  gently  as  he  had  done." 

"Wasn't  that  strange?  Who  do  you  suppose 
he  was?"  asked  Roy. 

"No  one  knows,  but  near  Puebla  there  is  a 
great  brick  pyramid  called  the  Pyramid  of  Cho- 
lula,  said  to  have  been  built  by  the  only  two  people 
left  living  after  a  great  deluge  in  which  all  the 
rest  of  the  world  were  drowned.  On  this  pyramid, 
the  people  had  built  a  temple  to  Quetzalcoatl, 
with  an  image  of  him  within  it,  and  pilgrims  came 


138  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

from  all  over  the  country  to  worship  there.  The 
whole  town  was  full  of  temples — Cortez  says  that 
he  counted  four  hundred  towers  in  Cholula.  If  we 
go  to  Puebla  we  shall  try  to  see  it,  as  we  can  go 
there  by  tram." 

"Oh,  jolly!"  exclaimed  the  children. 

"We  shall  also  see  images  in  the  Museum  here 
supposed  to  represent  the  God  of  the  Air.  Well, 
as  I  said,  when  Cortez  and  his  men  and  horses 
appeared,  they  created  a  great  sensation,  as  the 
rumour  ran  that  Quetzalcoatl  's  prophecy  had  been 
fulfilled.  The  people  had  never  seen  horses  before 
and  thought  they  too  were  gods,  and  the  Spaniards 
regarded  it  as  a  great  misfortune  when  one  of  the 
horses  was  killed  and  so  was  proved  to  be  mortal. 
They  buried  it  at  night  secretly  so  that  the  natives 
might  not  get  any  of  the  body  and  find  out  that  it 
was  mere  animal  flesh. 

"A  very  clever  Indian  woman,  named  Marina, 
who  had  been  made  a  prisoner,  became  attached  to 
Cortez  and  helped  him  greatly  by  her  knowledge  of 
the  native  tongues  and  of  the  nature  of  the  people. 
By  her  aid  and  that  of  the  tribes  who  wished  to 
see    the    Aztecs    conquered,    Cortez    arrived    at 


THE  CONQUEST  139 

Tenochtitlan,  or  the  City  of  Mexico,  without  very 
serious  losses.  Moctezuma,  who  had  heard  of  his 
coming,  and  who  had  had  spies  at  various  places 
to  meet  him  and  come  back  and  report,  had  de- 
cided that  the  best  plan  was  to  appear  friendly. 
He  had  no  doubt  that  with  his  tens  of  thousands 
of  men  he  could  conquer  the  small  force  of  the 
Spaniards.  The  Spanish  at  once  began  to  behave 
as  conquerors,  but  did  not  have  uninterrupted 
success,  and  it  was  after  a  defeat  that  Cortez, 
whose  men  had  been  driven  out  of  the  city  over 
the  Tacubaya  road,  spent  the  night,  it  is  said, 
under  this  tree  here.  It  may  have  been  a  Sad 
Night,  but  we  may  be  pretty  sure  that  Cortez  him- 
self did  not  spend  it  in  lamenting.  A  week  later, 
he  won  a  victory,  and  then,  with  powder  made 
from  sulphur  taken  from  the  crater  of  Popocate- 
petl, he  began  the  siege  of  the  city.  There  were 
with  him  forty  cavalrymen,  eighty  bowmen,  four 
hundred  and  fifty  foot-soldiers,  and  nine  cannon. 
The  Aztecs  had  some  hundred  and  twenty-five 
thousand  men,  whose  weapons  were  principally 
bows  and  arrows. 

"Moctezuma  had  been  killed  the  dav  before  the 


140  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

Sad  Night,  and  not  by  a  Spaniard  but  by  bis  own 
nephew,  Guatemot'zin,  or  Cuauhtemoc  (you  saw 
his  monument  on  the  Paseo,  the  other  day — a  beau- 
tiful one),  who  thought  he  was  not  sufficiently 
vigorous  against  the  Spaniards.  Cuauhtemoc  then 
took  command  and  held  the  city  until  his  garrison 
was  starved  into  submission.  The  Spaniards 
again  entered  the  city,  but  all  the  treasure  they 
had  seen  before  was  gone.  Cuauhtemoc  was  put  to 
the  torture  to  make  him  tell  what  had  become  of  it, 
but  in  vain.  And  none  of  it  has  ever  been  found. 
We  shall  see  a  painting  in  the  San  Carlo  Academy 
in  the  city,  showing  a  part  of  the  torture  of 
Cuauhtemoc.  An  old  chief  being  tortured  with 
him — the  soles  of  their  feet  were  being  roasted 
over  hot  coals " 

"Oh,  mother !"  begged  Ray,  clasping  her  hands. 

"Yes,  it  is  almost  too  dreadful  to  tell,  dear — 
this  old  chief  looks  at  Cuauhtemoc  entreatingly,  as 
if  saying,  'I  can't  bear  it  any  longer.  Let  us  tell 
them,'  and  Cuauhtemoc  replies,  'Do  you  think,  per- 
haps, that  I  am  taking  my  pleasure  in  my  bath?' 
and  refuses  to  let  him  speak." 

"He  was  brave,  anyhow,"  said  Roy. 


if 


THE  CONQUEST  141 

'When  the  Spaniards  conquered  the  city  they 
soon  conquered  more,  and  for  three  hundred  years 
the  country  was  ruled  by  Spain.    Cortez  went  back 
finally  to  Spain,  and  died  there  in  1547— he  has  no 
known  descendants  in  Mexico.    Many  of  his  fol- 
lowers and  other  Spaniards  who  came  afterwards 
married  with  the  Indians,  and  it  is  this  mixture 
which  makes  the  Mexicans.    The  old  religion  has 
disappeared,  for  the  Spaniards  threw  down  all  the 
Indian  idols,  destroyed  their  temples,  and  put  up 
churches  in  their  stead,  but  the  Aztec  language 
still  survives.    Once  a  year,  in  August,  the  Indians 
assemble  around  the  monument  to   Cuauhtemoc 
and  deliver  speeches  in  that  language.    And  there 
are  villages  off  the  railroad  where  some  of  the  old 
Aztec  dances  are  still  danced." 

Mrs.  Stevens  paused  for  breath,  rather  tired  of 
her  duties  as  historian ;  but  the  children  were  still 
curious. 

"How  did  their  buildings  look?"  asked  Roy. 

"Their  first  houses  were  built  of  reeds  and 
rushes  from  the  lakes,  for  this  Valley  of  Mexico 
which  is  now  without  any  very  large  body  of  water 
was  once  full  of  shallow  lakes,  which  have  been 


142  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

drained  off,  all  but  six,  under  the  Spaniards.  But 
the  Aztecs  soon  learned  to  build  very  massive 
houses  of  stone.  They  looked  like  nothing  else 
that  has  ever  been  found  on  this  side  of  the  globe, 
and  were  more  like  the  structures  of  Egypt  than 
like  anything  else.  The  great  temple  that  stood 
where  the  Cathedral  stands  now,  was  a  pyramid 
over  one  hundred  feet  high,  and  a  hundred  and 
fourteen  steps  led  up  to  it.  At  the  top  there  was 
room  enough  for  thirty  horsemen.  What  are 
streets  now  were  canals  then,  at  least  many  of 
them  were,  and  some  of  them  have  the  same  names 
as  then." 

"What  became  of  Cuauhtemoc?"  asked  Eoy. 

"He  was  put  to  death.  The  great  temple  was 
destroyed,  and  the  founding  of  the  new  city  began 
by  building — what  do  you  suppose?" 

"A  church?"  "A  palace?"  "A  monastery?" 
guessed  the  children. 

' '  No, — a  navy-yard ! ' ' 

"A  navy-yard!  Up  here  in  the  mountains!" 
exclaimed  Roy. 

"Yes,  a  navy-yard,  to  build  boats  to  use  on  the 
lakes,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens.    "It  seems  very  queer, 


THE  CONQUEST  143 

as  one  looks  in  every  direction  without  seeing 
water,  to  think  that  such  a  thing  was  ever  needed 
here." 

"You  can  still  see  small  lakes,  though,  by  going 
up  to  a  height  as  we  did  at  Guadalupe,"  said  Mr. 
Stevens.  "There  are  six  in  the  Valley,  and  one 
of  them,  Lake  Texcoco,  is  right  in  the  centre  and 
of  quite  respectable  size.  And  there  is  a  little 
town  called  Texcoco,  not  so  very  far  from  the  city, 
which  has  a  bridge  called  the  Bridge  of  the  Ber- 
gantines,  from  which  the  boats  of  that  name  built 
by  Cortez  sailed  away  with  his  men  to  the  siege  of 
the  Capital." 

"Dear  me!"  said  Bay,  who  had  been  calling  up 
her  knowledge  of  the  early  history  of  her  own 
country,  "and  all  this  was  happening  nearly  a 
hundred  years  before  Virginia  and  Massachusetts 
were  settled." 

"Yes,"  said  her  father,  "and  while  Ponce  de 
Leon  was  in  Florida  and  De  Soto  finding  the 
Mississippi,  and  Coronado  civilising  New  Mexico. 
The  Spaniards  were  very  busy  in  those  days." 

"And  they  have  lost  it  all,  even  Cuba,"  said 
Roy,  thoughtfully.    "I  wonder  why." 


144  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

"Ah,  that  is  the  question,"  said  his  father. 

By  this  time,  the  sun 's  rays  were  growing  level, 
and  they  thought  it  time  to  get  back  to  the  park  at 
the  base  of  the  Castle  of  Chapultepec,  to  watch  the 
driving.  It  was  Thursday,  one  of  the  two  especial 
days  for  this  great  promenade  (the  other  being 
Sunday),  and  very  soon  after  they  took  their 
seats  the  procession  began,  growing  larger  as  the 
hour  grew  later.  The  driving  lasts  from  five  to 
seven  generally,  unless  rain  comes  to  put  a  stop  to 
it.  On  this  particular  day,  however,  the  weather 
was  obliging,  and  the  party  had  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  all  the  best  families  of  the  city,  with  many 
American  residents  and  some  tourists,  driving  in 
all  sorts  of  equipages,  from  the  latest  pattern  in 
automobiles  to  the  poorest  yellow-flagged  hack. 
The  children  thought  the  Mexican  ladies  very 
pretty,  and  were  very  grateful  to  a  gentleman  who 
pointed  out  to  them  the  carriage  of  Senora  Diaz, 
wife  of  the  President.  They  pronounced  her 
charming,  especially  when  they  saw  her  smiling  at 
some  friends  and  making  the  graceful  Mexican 
salutation  with  the  hand.  "It  is  so  much  prettier 
and  politer  than  our  way  of  waving  the  hand," 


THE  CONVIKST  145 

said  Kay.  "Ours  says  'Go  away,'  and  theirs  says 
'  Come  back. '  ' ' 

"You'll  be  a  thorough  little  Mexican,  before 
you  get  away,"  said  her  father.  "You  admire 
everything  so  much." 

"No,  not  quite  everything,"  said  Ray,  "I  don't 
admire  the  rags  and  the  dirt.  And  I  do  like  the 
United  States  best." 

"Of  course  you  do,"  said  Roy,  stoutly. 

"But,"  persisted  Ray,  "I  don't  know  how  it  is 
— I  can't  explain  it — I  like  to  like  other  countries. 
If  they've  got  anything  nice  I  want  to  own  it  and 
not  pretend  that  we  are  the  best  in  everything." 

"You  just  want  to  be  fair,"  said  Roy. 

"Yes,  and  a  little  more — I  want  to  be  polite," 
returned  Ray. 

"That's  the  spirit  that  makes  travelling  easy 
all  around,"  said  her  father.    "Keep  it  up,  Ray." 


CHAPTER  XI 
THE  MUSEUM 

When  the  party  first  entered  the  patio  of  the 
National  Museum,  they  exclaimed  with  delight  at 
the  beauty  of  the  garden  disclosed  to  view.  l '  You 
never  would  guess  from  the  streets,"  said  Mrs. 
Stevens,  "what  beautiful  things  are  hidden  inside 
these  doorways.  It  always  pays  to  look  into  any 
public  entrance." 

The  Hall  of  Archaeology,  which  is  on  the  ground 
floor  of  the  Museum,  proved  to  be  so  interesting 
that  the  party  had  to  leave  the  upper  floors  for 
another  day.  It  was  full  of  images  and  stone  rel- 
ics of  all  sorts,  of  the  Indian  races  who  were  the 
earliest  known  inhabitants  of  Mexico.  The  only 
other  visitors  in  the  room  were  peons  with  their 
families,  all  barefooted  and  wrapped  in  their 
serapes  and  rebozos,  the  women  carrying  nearly 
always  a  little  brown  baby  slung  in  the  folds  of 

the  rebozo  as  if  in  a  hammock,  sometimes  in  front, 

146 


THE  MUSEUM  147 

sometimes  on  the  back.  They  paused  in  their  slow- 
rounds  to  read  the  labels,  which  were  in  Spanish,- 
at  least,  they  seemed  to  be  reading  them, — and 
Roy  and  Hay  wondered  if  they  still  had  any  feel- 
ing for  the  ancient  gods  of  their  race,  and  if  per- 
haps they  came  here  as  they  would  have  come  to 
a  temple.  But  who  knows  what  is  passing  through 
the  mind  of  a  peon?  The  children  finally  gave  up 
guessing,  and  turned  their  attention  to  the  relics. 
The  first,  of  course,  to  attract  every  one  is  the 
great  Calendar  Stone  of  the  Aztecs  which  stands 
opposite  the  doorway.  "This  is  said  to  have  been 
embedded  in  the  front  wall  of  the  great  teocalli  or 
temple  of  the  Aztecs  and  to  have  been  buried  for 
many  years,  after  the  destruction  of  the  temple," 
said  Mr.  Stevens.  "Then  it  was  found  and  placed 
in  one  of  the  Cathedral  towers  and  finally  brought 
here." 

"What  does  it  mean?"  asked  Eay,  "and  why 
do  they  call  it  the  Calendar  Stone!" 

"I  think  they  used  it  to  represent  time  in  some 
way,"  said  Roy,  "because  here  in  the  middle  is 
something  like  the  sun  with  something  like  rays 
going  out  from  it." 


148  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

"Yes,"  said  his  father,  "it  is  sometimes  called 
the  Stone  of  the  Sun.  This  other  great  stone  is 
the  sacrificial  stone,"  pointing  to  another  near  by. 
"It  was  found  near  the  Cathedral  in  1791,  and  they 
were  about  to  break  it  up  and  use  it  for  paving- 
stones  when  fortunately  some  people  who  knew  its 
value  prevented  its  destruction.  The  story  goes 
that  two  stones  like  these  were  quarried  out  at 
Coyoacan,  a  suburb,  and  that  as  they  were  being 
brought  on  rollers  to  the  temple  their  weight 
broke  down  one  of  the  bridges  and  they  sank  into 
the  lake,  and  these  two  stones  were  then  made  to 
replace  them  and  moved  in  over  the  same  bridge, 
which  had  been  strengthened  in  the  meantime.  It 
took  five  thousand  men  to  do  the  moving,  it  is  said, 
and  when  the  carving  on  them  was  finished,  over 
seven  hundred  human  beings  were  sacrificed  at 
their  dedication.  In  this  stone,"  showing  the 
sacrificial  stone,  "you  can  see  dimly  the  figures  of 
men  dragging  the  victims  to  be  sacrificed.  And 
here  is  a  hollow  in  the  middle  for  the  blood  and  a 
little  channel  running  out  to  the  edge  to  carry  it 
off." 

"That  makes  it  seem  awfully  true,"  said  Roy, 


THE  MUSEUM  149 

as  he  looked  curiously  at  the  top  of  this  wonderful 
old  stone,  emblem  of  the  cruel  Aztec  religion  as 
the  Calendar  Stone  was  of  the  advanced  Aztec 
civilisation.  After  these  two  relics,  the  thing  that 
most  interested  the  children  was  the  statue  called 
"El  Indio  Triste,"  the  Sad  Indian. 

"What  makes  him  sad?"  asked  Ray. 

"He's  sad  because  he's  cold,"  said  Roy,  "don't 
you  see  his  blanket  and  the  ear-lappets  on  his  cap  ? 
and  he's  all  bunched  up  together,  as  if  he  were 
trying  to  keep  warm."  The  children  could  not 
help  laughing  at  this  idea,  though  Ray  said  she 
didn't  believe  it  was  ever  cold  in  Mexico. 

"Yes,  it  is  sometimes,"  maintained  Roy. 
"Harry  Clarke  told  me  that  last  winter  lots  of 
poor  people  froze,  and  that  the  government  gave 
out  blankets  and  had  fires  built  in  the  streets.  But 
I  really  didn't  mean  it  when  I  said  the  Sad  Indian 
was  cold.  Does  any  one  know  anything  about  it, 
father?" 

"The  story  goes  that  he  betrayed  his  country- 
men and  never  recovered  from  the  shame  of  it  and 
always  felt  remorse;  but  judging  from  the  hole 
between  the  folded  hands  and  the  one  through  the 


150  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

feet,  he  must  at  one  time  have  carried  a  banner, 
and  probably  represents  a  standard-bearer  or  a 
torch-bearer.  The  street  where  it  was  found  in 
182S  is  called  the  Street  of  the  Sad  Indian.  One 
of  the  temples  had  Indians  with  candlesticks  of 
stone  on  its  walls,  and  this  may  be  one  of  them." 

The  image  of  Chac-mol,  the  God  of  Fire,  inter- 
ested the  children  also,  as  it  lay  on  its  back,  hold- 
ing in  both  hands  a  disk  representing  the  sun. 
"He  looks  terribly  uncomfortable,"  said  Ray, 
"with  nothing  to  lean  against.  I  think  his  elbows 
must  be  pretty  sore,  by  this  time." 

"Constant  leaning  doesn't  seem  to  wear  away 
a  stone  like  constant  dropping,"  said  Mrs. 
Stevens,  "but  he  certainly  does  look  uncomfort- 
able." 

The  children  were  anxious  to  see  images  of 
the  God  of  the  Air,  Quetzalcoatl,  and  were  greatly 
disturbed  to  find  them  so  hideous.  "I  don't  see 
why  they  wanted  such  an  ugly  god  as  that  to  come 
back  and  rule  over  them,"  said  Ray. 

"Ideas  of  beauty  differ  in  different  times  and 
countries  and  perhaps  they  thought  these  were 
beautiful,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens. 


I  he  Sad  Indian 


THE  MUSEUM  151 

"More  likely,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  "they  wanted 
to  repre'sent  the  power  and  fearsomeness  of  the 
god,  so  that  the  people  would  be  afraid  to  disobey 
what  the  priests  said  were  his  wishes,  and  would 
bring  gifts  and  sacrifices  to  keep  him  in  good 
humour." 

Many  of  the  images  made  the  children  laugh, 
and  they  quite  enjoyed  the  morning,  not  finding  it 
at  all  tiresome  as  they  expected;  however,  when 
their  father  proposed  going  into  the  rooms  where 
more  modern  relics  were  to  be  seen,  they  were 
quite  ready.  Mrs.  Stevens  did  not  care  to  climb 
to  the  second  floor  that  morning,  and  so  the  party 
moved  on  to  the  rooms  in  which  souvenirs  of 
Maximilian  were  kept. 

Here  they  found  two  of  his  carriages,  one  of 
them  the  state  coach,  splendid  with  gilding  and 
carving  and  colour,  and  his  silver  dinner  service, 
and  on  the  walls  pictures  of  the  costumes  worn  by 
officers  of  the  Imperial  household  during  his  short 
reign.  "I  don't  feel  as  if  I  had  Maximilian 
straight,"  said  Roy,  "just  where  did  he  come  in 
and  how  did  he  come  to  be  emperor?" 

"He    was    an    Austrian    arch-duke,    to    begin 


152  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

with,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  "and  he  was  induced  to 
come  over  at  the  time  when  the  French  invaded 
the  country.  You  remember  I  told  you  that  Spain, 
France,  and  Great  Britain  all  had  claims  against 
Mexico — because  the  government  would  not  pay 
its  debts  to  citizens  of  those  countries.  France 
claimed  six  hundred  thousand  dollars,  a  part  of 
which  was  a  claim  for  sixty  thousand  dollars  by 
a  French  cook  who  said  the  Mexican  soldiers  had 
stolen  pies  from  him  to  that  value." 

"My!  Sixty  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  pies! 
I  should  think  that  would  have  killed  the  whole 
army, ' '  exclaimed  Ray. 

"Of  course,  that  was  ridiculous,  and  the  Mexi- 
cans laughed  at  it,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  "but  the 
matter  was  really  serious,  and  the  three  countries 
sent  out  a  fleet  bringing  commissioners  to  treat 
with  the  republic  concerning  these  claims.  All  the 
troops  were  to  be  withdrawn  as  soon  as  a  treaty 
had  been  signed,  and  the  English  and  Spanish  kept 
their  word.  But  Napoleon  III,  instead  of  with- 
drawing his  troops,  sent  more,  and  in  1863  they 
entered  the  Capital,  and  then  began  that  wander- 
ing about  of  President  Juarez  of  which  I  told  you 


THE  MUSEUM  L53 

the  otlier  day,  and  the  war  in  which  Diaz  so  dis- 
tinguished himself.  Maximilian  was  sent  over  in 
1864,  with  his  wife,  Carlotta,  daughter  of  Leopold 
T,  then  King  of  Belgium,  and  Mexico  was  declared 
an  empire  and  they  the  emperor  and  empress. 
Their  rule  was  quite  splendid  while  it  lasted,  and 
it  is  said  the  City  of  Mexico  owes  its  great  boule- 
vard to  plans  made  by  Carlotta.  During  this 
period  the  United  States  had  its  Civil  War  on  its 
hands  and  could  not  attend  to  outside  affairs,  else 
the  empire  might  never  have  been  inaugurated, 
for  we  were  very  averse  to  having  anything  but 
republics  in  the  Western  Hemisphere.  In  1865, 
when  the  end  of  our  Civil  War  was  in  sight  and 
victory  was  with  the  nation,  we  turned  our  atten- 
tion to  Mexico's  affairs  and  took  sides  with  the 
Mexicans.  Napoleon,  having  got  Maximilian  into 
the  scrape  and  finding  the  empire  unpopular  in 
the  New  World,  deserted  him  and  left  him  to  get 
out  of  it  as  best  he  could.  You  know  that  he  was 
captured  at  Queretaro  by  General  Escobedo,  and 
executed  with  two  of  his  generals,  Miramon  and 
Mexia.  lie  left  instructions  that  Carlotta,  who 
had  gone  to  Europe  to  get  help,  was  not  to  be  told 


154  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

of  his  execution  and,  so  far  as  I  know,  she  never 
has  been,  but  has  supposed  that  he  died  a  natural 
death." 

"Why,  is  she  living  yet?"  asked  Ray. 

"Yes,  poor  lady.  She  was  taken  back  to  Bel- 
gium with  the  understanding  that  the  cause  had 
failed  and  that  Maximilian  would  follow.  She  be- 
came very  melancholy  and  finally  lost  her  mind. 
She  was  kept  in  the  Chateau  de  Bechoute,  not  far 
from  Brussels.  It  is  one  of  the  saddest  things 
connected  with  the  history  of  Mexico." 

"I  tell  you,  I  wouldn't  like  to  have  been  Na- 
poleon, and  have  had  all  that  on  my  conscience," 
said  Roy. 

"Kings  and  emperors  used  to  have  a  great 
many  things  of  that  kind  on  their  consciences," 
said  Mr.  Stevens ;  ' '  fortunately,  in  these  days,  they 
are  less  powerful  and  more  conscientious,  appar- 
ently, and  the  newspapers  speak  out  and  tell  them 
what  the  people  think  of  them  when  they  resort  to 
tricks  of  this  kind." 

"I  can  remember,  as  a  little  girl,"  said  Mrs. 
Stevens,  "seeing  the  pictures  in  Harper's  Weekly, 
I  think,  showing  the  execution  of  Maximilian  and 


THE  MUSEUM  155 

his  generals.  It  was  the  first  news  I  ever  read 
that  I  still  remember." 

"Well,  then,"  said  Roy,  "we  almost  made  up  to 
Mexico  for  taking  Texas  and  California  away 
from  her,  didn't  we?  For  if  we  hadn't  stood  by 
her,  France  might  have  won  and  she  might  have 
been  an  empire  instead  of  a  republic,  and 
governed  by  foreigners,  mightn't  she!" 

"It  looks  so,"  said  his  father. 

"Well,  I  feel  better,"  said  Roy;  "I  do  hate  to 
have  my  country  do  anything  mean,  and  if  she 
can 't  take  it  back  then  I  like  to  see  her  make  up  for 
it  somehow." 

"So  do  I,"  said  Ray. 

"Time  for  dinner,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  looking 
at  his  watch.  "We'll  come  back  here  another 
morning." 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  MUSEUM  AGAIN,  AND  CHAPULTEPEC 

A  few  days  later  the  family  made  their  second 
visit  to  the  Museum,  and,  so  far  as  the  children 
were  concerned,  found  it  even  more  interesting 
than  the  first,  because  the  objects  of  interest  this 
time  belonged  generally  to  more  modern  times,  the 
history  of  which  the  children  could  grasp.  They 
saw  some  of  the  famous  picture-writings,  it  is 
true,  but  they  also  saw  charts  and  pictures  show- 
ing the  natives  of  all  the  various  states  of  Mexico 
in  their  different  costumes,  some  of  them  most 
graceful  and  picturesque;  they  saw  many  relics 
of  the  Conquest,  such  as  the  banner  of  Cortez,  his 
armour  and  the  arms  worn  by  some  of  his  fol- 
lowers, a  helmet  and  cuirass  worn  by  Captain 
Alvarado,  and  a  portrait  of  Cortez,  but  they  also 
saw  many  relics  connected  with  the  War  of  Inde- 
pendence, which  interested  them  much  more.  For 
example,  there  was  the  banner  taken  by  Father 

156 


THE  MUSEUM,  AND  CHAPULTEPEC  157 

Hidalgo  from  his  Little  home-church  and  made  the 
standard  of  the  War  of  Independence. '  It  bore  the 
picture  of  the  Madonna  of  Guadalupe  with  which 
the  family  were  now  very  familiar,  from  seeing  it 
in  so  many  churches.  There  were  Hidalgo's 
musket,  his  cane,  his  favourite  chair,  and  even  his 
handkerchief.  The  children  looked  at  these  relics 
with  as  much  respect  and  interest  as  if  they  had 
been  those  of  Paul  Revere  or  Israel  Putnam  or 
of  any  of  their  own  Revolutionary  heroes,  for 
they  had  grown  to  think  very  admiringly  of  the 
patriot-priest  who  gave  the  call  to  arms  in  the 
name  of  freedom. 

The  many  objects  that  had  once  belonged  to 
Juarez,  the  Indian  president,  interested  them 
rather  less,  though  they  gazed  curiously  at  his 
clothes,  of  a  style  just  old-fashioned  enough  to 
strike  them  as  somewhat  ridiculous.  The  death- 
mask  and  the  bed  on  which  Juarez  died,  with  its 
canopy  and  hangings,  they  looked  at  with  solemn 
faces;  and  they  stood  long  before  the  full-length 
portraits  of  Maximilian  and  Carlotta,  in  ball 
costume,  and  with  ill-concealed  disapproval  turned 
away  from  the  portrait  of  Napoleon  III. 


158  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

But  the  portraits  that  interested  them  most 
were  those  of  the  six  young  cadets  who  were  killed 
at  Chapultepec.  Very  poor  portraits  they  were, 
probably,  and  certainly  very  poor  as  works  of  art, 
but  both  Roy  and  Ray  stood  before  them  with 
tears  in  their  eyes,  thinking  how  young  these  poor 
boys  were  to  have  fallen  in  battle.  They  felt  more 
than  ever  anxious  to  go  out  and  lay  their  wreaths 
at  the  foot  of  the  monument,  and  were  very  glad 
to  find  that  an  excursion  to  Chapultepec  was 
planned  for  that  very  afternoon. 

Mr.  Stevens  had  been  successful,  through  the 
kind  help  of  Mr.  Clarke,  in  securing  a  permit  to 
visit  the  interior  of  the  castle,  something  not 
always  easy  to  get.  And  about  four  o'clock,  the 
party,  accompanied  by  Harry  Clarke,  who  had  a 
holiday  for  some  reason,  started  for  Chapultepec. 
"It  means  the  Hill  of  the  Grasshopper,  doesn't 
it?"  said  Ray. 

"Yes,  and  why  don't  they  call  it  that?"  said 
Roy,  a  little  hard  to  please. 

"They  do,"  said  Harry,  "that's  what  Chapul- 
tepec means — but  you  couldn't  expect  them  to  say 
it  in  English,  Roy." 


THE  MUSEUM,  AND  CHAPULTEPEC    159 

There  was  a  general  laugh  at  Roy's  expense,  in 
which  he  could  not  help  joining,  though  the  fact 
was  that  his  grumpiness  was  owing  to  his  not 
feeling  very  well.  When  the  car  stopped  at  the 
great  entrance  gate,  the  party  got  out  and  entered 
the  park  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  strolling  among  the 
great  ahuehuetls,  and  very  soon  coming  to  the 
stone  monument  they  were  seeking,  with  its  pro- 
tecting iron  railing.  On  one  side  were  the  names 
of  the  cadets  who  fell  in  the  defence  of  the  castle, 
and  on  the  other  of  those  who  were  taken  pris- 
oner, with  the  dates.  The  children  could  not 
reach  to  deposit  their  modest  wreaths  of  daisies, 
but  Mr.  Stevens  put  them  on  his  cane  and  placed 
them  just  at  the  base  of  the  shaft.  An  old  Mexi- 
can gentleman,  who  was  passing  by,  stopped  to 
watch  the  proceeding,  and  smiled  kindly  when  he 
saw  the  little  givers  were  Americans.  ''They 
say,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  as  they  turned  away, 
"that  Moctezuma  used  to  have  a  palace  on  this 
great  rocky  hill,  though  this  palace  was  built  under 
two  of  the  Spanish  viceroys  and  finished  in  1785. 
In  Moctezuma 's  time,  they  had  to  climb  all  the 
way  to  the  top,  the  chieftains  and  their  followers 


160  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

in  palanquins  with  slaves  to  carry  them.  And 
once,  the  story  goes,  Mocteznma  stopped  his 
bearers  at  the  entrance  to  a  cave,  on  the  way  up, 
and  went  by  himself  into  the  cave,  shortly  after- 
ward, to  every  one's  surprise,  calling  to  them  from 
the  top  of  the  hill.  As  the  people  did  not  know 
there  was  an  interior  passage  from  the  cave,  they 
thought  the  emperor  had  penetrated  the  rocks  by 
some  miraculous  power.  Now  there  are  good 
footpaths  and  carriage  roads,  and  even  an  ele- 
vator part  way  up." 

When  the  party  reached  the  top,  after  winding 
about  among  the  trees  and  admiring  the  flowers 
everywhere,  particularly  the  pink  geraniums  that 
climbed  all  the  way  up  the  rocks  like  a  vine,  they 
found  themselves  on  a  broad  esplanade  from 
which  they  could  see  all  the  pretty  villages  below 
and  the  two  snow-capped  mountains  that  were 
now  becoming  very  familiar  to  them. 

"I  don't  know  what  we'll  do  when  we  go  where 
we  can't  see  old  'Popo,'  "  said  Roy.  "lam  get- 
ting so  used  to  him  that  I  look  for  him  every 
morning." 

"Now,  look  off  on  this  side,"  said  Ray,  who  had 


THE  MUSEUM,  AND  CHAPULTEPEC  H'.l 

been  through  the  garden  and  into  the  gallery 
which  overlooked  the  Valley  in  another  direction. 
Here  they  saw  the  battlefields  of  Churubusco  and 
Molino  del  Key,  the  city  with  its  towers  and  splen- 
did domes,  and  the  hill  and  chapel  of  Guadalupe. 
It  was  a  lovely,  clear  day,  and  everything  was 
visible  that  distance  allowed,  and  the  children 
thought  they  had  never  seen  so  beautiful  a  land- 
scape. They  were  at  last  learning  to  appreciate 
scenery  and  to  understand  their  father's  and 
mother's  enthusiasm. 

Still  they  were  anxious  to  enter  the  castle,  and 
Mr.  Stevens  presented  his  permit  to  the  guard, 
who  honoured  it  at  once,  introducing  them  into 
the  State  apartments.  Of  course,  as  the  Presi- 
dent and  his  family  were  living  there  during 
the  summer,  the  private  apartments  were  not 
shown. 

The  Empress  Carlotta  is  associated  with  much 
of  the  magnificence  of  the  palace,  which  was  a 
favourite  place  with  her,  but  everything  is  marked 
R.  M.,  "Republica  Mexicana."  The  oldest  things 
in  the  palace  are  two  chairs  said  to  have  belonged 
to  Cortez.    All  the  rooms  of  the  palace  open  on 


162  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

marble  balconies,  and  on  the  upper  floor,  reached 
by  a  stairway  with  gilded  balustrades,  there  are 
fountains  and  terraced  gardens.  Outside  the 
palace  are  colonnades  of  white  and  tinted  marbles, 
and  under  the  arches  are  copies  of  frescoes  of 
Pompeiian  and  Grecian  designs. 

' '  I  never,  never,  saw  such  a  lovely  place ! ' '  ex- 
claimed Ray.  ' '  It  must  make  a  person  very  happy 
to  live  here." 

"Did  it  look  just  like  this — the  hill,  I  mean — in 
Moctezuma's  time?"  asked  Roy. 

"No,  indeed,  because  once  it  was  an  island  in 
Lake  Texcoco,  and  now  it  is  four  miles  from  the 
shore  of  the  lake,"  said  Harry. 

"Then  all  this  ground  around  it  was  under 
water?" 

"Yes,  indeed,  and  lots  more.  They  have  been 
draining  the  water  out  of  the  Valley  of  Mexico  for 
hundreds  of  years." 

"I  wish  we  could  see  some  of  the  cadets,"  said 
Ray,  remembering  that  one  end  or  side  of  the 
castle  was  occupied  by  the  Military  School  of 
Mexico;  and  as  they  followed  the  drive  westward 
they  came  to  the  school  and  Ray  had  her  wish. 


THE  MUSEUM,  AND  CHAPULTEPEC  1G3 

Several  cadets  were  standing  about  in  groups,  and 
one,  whom  Harry  Clarke  happened  to  know 
slightly,  saluted  the  party  politely. 

"There  are  about  three  hundred  of  them  here," 
said  Harry,  "and  on  the  anniversary  of  the  battle 
of  Chapultepec  they  have  memorial  exercises  and 
decorate  the  monument." 

"Has  Mexico  a  large  army?"  asked  Mr. 
Stevens,  who  found  Harry  pretty  well  posted 
about  his  adopted  country. 

"Only  about  thirty  to  thirty-five  thousand,  in- 
cluding officers,"  said  Harry.     "You  have  seen 
the  rurales,  haven't  you?" 
"Yes,  an  occasional  one." 

"There  are  over  two  thousand  of  them,  and 
when  they  are  mounted  they  look  fine.  You  know 
they  wear  leather  suits  and  felt  sombreros  to 
match,  all  trimmed  with  silver.  And  they're  like 
a  walking  armory,  with  their  cartridge-belts,  and 
revolvers,  and  swords.  There's  a  little  tram-line 
across  the  mountains  from  Telmacan  (Tay-wa- 
can')  to  Esperanza,  connecting  the  Mexican  South- 
ern and  the  Mexican  railroads,  and  each  car  has 
a  rural  for  guard,  in  addition  to  the  driver  and 


164  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

conductor.  It  doesn't  seem  as  if  there  were  any- 
thing to  be  afraid  of,  but  the  sight  of  the  armed 
guard  makes  you  feel  safe." 

"We  may  take  that  tram  one  of  these  days," 
said  Mr.  Stevens,  "so  I'm  glad  to  hear  we  shall 
have  a  protector.  If  you  are  all  ready  to  go  down, 
now,  we  '11  stroll  about  among  the  trees  awhile  and 
then  go  back  to  town."  On  the  way  down  they 
passed  the  cave,  once  the  home  of  the  Spirit  of  the 
Spring,  Malintzin,  and  near  the  bottom  of  the  hill 
the  spring  from  which  the  city  gets  part  of  its 
water  supply.  It  was  walled  in  by  the  viceroys 
who  were  responsible  for  the  building  of  the 
castle.  Moctezuma's  tree  is  among  the  large 
cypresses  in  the  park,  a  double  tree  hundreds  of 
years  old,  without  doubt,  and  forty-one  feet 
around.  It  is  said  that  Moctezuma  wept  his  defeat 
under  this  tree  as  Cortez  did  under  the  tree  of  the 
Sad  Night. 

As  they  went  back  through  the  city  streets, 
after  leaving  the  car,  they  passed  a  building  in  a 
very  ordinary  street  from  which  a  great  confusion 
of  children's  voices  came  forth.  "That  must  be  a 
school,"  said  Harry. 


u 

H 

H 
H 

-I 
■-> 

< 

o 


a 

H 


. . 


THE  MUSEUM,  AND  CHAPULTEPEC  165 

A  school!"  exclaimed  Roy  and  Ray  together. 
"With  all  that  noise?" 

"Yes,  they  study  aloud  here  in  the  lower  grade 
schools,"  said  Harry.    "Then  the  teacher  knows 
they're  studying,  you  see.    Let's  see  if  we  may  go 
in."    He  stepped  into  the  patio  and  to  the  door  of 
one  of  the  rooms  on  the  ground  floor,  and  asked 
permission,  which  was  at  once  granted,  and  he 
beckoned  the  others  to  follow.    The  school  was  on 
two  floors,  the  rooms  opening  around  a  court,  and 
the  youngest  children  were  in  the  ground-floor 
rooms,   with   women-teachers.     As   soon   as   the 
party  were  seen  at  the  door,  the  teacher  nodded 
to   the  little   pupils   and  they   all   rose   in   their 
places  and  their  little  hands  went  to  their  fore- 
heads in  a  polite  salute.    They  looked  so  "cute" 
as  Ray  called  it,  that  the  visitors  broke  into  smiles 
and  all  bowed  in  return,  and  the  little  fellows  sat 
down  again.     There  were  nearly  forty  of  them. 
As  it  was  clear  that  they  would  not  go  on  with 
their  studying  while  visitors  were  present,   the 
party  went  on  upstairs,  when  the  babble  at  once 
began  again  behind  them. 

Upstairs,    the    boys    in    the    middle    and    rear 


166  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

rooms  aroused  the  sympathy  of  the  party,  because 
the  only  light  they  had  in  their  rooms  came  in 
through  the  doorway,  and  a  little  distance  from 
that  the  room  was  almost  dark.  Yet  there  they 
were,  poring  over  their  books  and  straining  their 
eyes.  The  teacher  who  was  going  with  the  party 
as  guide  said  they  had  a  great  deal  of  eye-trouble 
among  the  children,  and  the  visitors  did  not 
wonder  at  it. 

"There  are  some  very  good,  new  school-build- 
ings in  the  city,"  said  Harry,  "but  this  happens 
to  be  one  of  the  poor  ones." 

"Well,  I'm  glad  I  don't  go  to  school  in  this 
country,"  said  Roy;  "school  from  half-past  eight 
to  four,  and  eleven  months  in  the  year,  and  then 
such  dark  rooms  as  these ! ' ' 

"You  children  don't  realise, "said Mrs. Stevens, 
"how  well-off  American  school-children  are  in 
their  schoolhouses  with  all  their  fine  equipment. 
If  you  had  a  year  in  a  school  like  this,  you  would 
appreciate  your  blessings." 

"Yes,  indeed,"  said  Ray.    "I  do  already!" 


CHAPTER  XIII 
THE  VIGA 

''What  is  the  Viga?"  asked  Roy  at  supper  one 
evening.  "Harry  Clarke  says  we  must  go  up  the 
Viga,  and  everybody  we  meet  at  the  hotel  says, 
'  Have  you  been  up  the  Viga  ? '  " 

"It  is  an  old,  old  waterway — a  canal,  they  call 
it,  but  it  is  not  like  our  canals — that  runs  from 
the  city  out  to  Xochimilko  (Soch-i-mil'-ko),  a  two- 
days  trip,"  said  Mr.  Stevens.  "It  brings  in  the 
charcoal,  grass,  garden-truck,  etc.,  raised  by  the 
people  all  along  the  way,  and  is  used  for  passenger 
traffic,  too.  I  had  thought  we  would  make  a  short 
trip  up  the  canal  to-morrow,  as  that  is  Sunday, 
and  Sunday  is  said  to  be  the  best  day  for  the 
trip." 

"Oh,  good!"  exclaimed  Ray.  "I  was  wonder- 
ing what  we  would  do  to-morrow.  You'll  go, 
won't  you,  mother?" 

"Yes,  if  the  morning  is  pleasant.    We  shall  go 

167 


168  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

in  the  morning,  shan't  we?"  Mrs.  Stevens  asked, 
turning  to  her  husband. 

' '  I  suppose  the  morning  will  be  better  on  account 
of  possible  rain  in  the  afternoon,  though  I  believe 
one  doesn't  see  quite  as  many  people  there  in  the 
morning.  I  think  we  might  start  from  the  hotel 
at  about  half-past  nine,  if  these  young  people 
are  up  and  have  had  something  to  eat  by  that 
time. ' ' 

"I  think  we've  been  pretty  good  about  getting 
up  since  we've  been  here,"  said  Roy,  who  was 
rather  sore  on  the  subject  of  early  rising. 

"Yes,  you  have  been,  my  boy,"  said  his  mother. 
"I  think  we've  had  to  wait  for  you  only  once." 

"We'll  go  to  bed  early  to-night  and  then  we'll 
be  sure  to  be  up,"  said  Ray,  and  at  nine  o'clock 
when  Mr.  Stevens  came  in  from  doing  an  errand, 
he  found  them  both  soundly  sleeping. 

So  they  not  only  arose  early  but  "bright  and 
early"  the  next  morning,  all  eagerness  for  the  new 
things  they  were  to  see.  They  walked  up  to  the 
Zocalo  and  took  the  small  car  that  was  to  carry 
them  out  to  the  Embarcadero  (Em-bar-ca-day'-ro), 
where  the  canal  begins.    So  early  in  the  morning, 


THE  VIGA  L69 

this  tram  was  not  crowded.  It  ran  through  some 
rather  poor  parts  of  the  city,  and  when  they  got 
out  at  the  terminus,  the  children  thought  it  was 
about  the  most  unattractive  place  they  had  yet 
seen,  for  it  was  dirty  and  dusty,  with  very  little 
shade,  very  noisy,  and  full  of  poor  and  wretched- 
looking  people.  Two  interesting  things,  however, 
caught  their  attention  at  once,  the  giant  figures 
in  bronze  of  two  Aztec  chiefs,  formerly  stationed 
in  the  Paseo,  but  too  large  there  for  their  sur- 
roundings and  so  brought  here  to  this  broad,  open 
place.  All  about  the  base  of  these  monuments 
clustered  the  descendants  of  the  old  race,  laughing 
and  chattering,  buying  and  selling,  cooking  and 
eating,  perhaps  unconscious  of  their  decline,  per- 
haps indifferent  to  it.  The  moment  the  party  left 
the  car,  they  were  surrounded  by  boatmen  offering 
their  boats  for  the  trip,  describing  the  merits  of 
them,  and  all  that  was  to  be  seen  on  the  way,  etc. 
When  it  came  to  making  a  bargain,  however,  Mr. 
Stevens  had  to  lower  their  ideas  of  price  some- 
what, and  as  they  found  him  firm  in  his  determina- 
tion not  to  be  overcharged,  and  Mrs.  Stevens  was 
able   to   convey   this    fad    to    them    in    tolerable 


170  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

Spanish,  they  began  to  relent.  The  family  selected 
the  first  boatman  who  had  approached  them,  a 
smooth-faced  boy  of  eighteen  or  nineteen,  whose 
boat  was  very  gay  with  red  and  white  curtains 
and  with  red  and  white  flowered  chintz  covers  on 
the  seats.  The  boats  were  a  kind  of  dugout,  flat- 
bottomed  with  slanting  ends,  and  Roy  soon  found 
that  it  was  fun  to  lie  flat  on  one  of  these  ends  and 
look  into  the  water.  The  canal  was  very  unattract- 
ive at  first,  being  full  of  scraps  of  things  that  had 
fallen  into  it  from  the  boats  and  being  without 
shade  just  at  the  beginning;  but  a  few  strokes  of 
vigorous  poling,  done  at  the  bow  by  the  boatman, 
brought  them  into  cleaner  water  and  among  the 
trees  which,  from  there  on,  lined  the  banks  and 
made  a  pleasant  shade.  The  canal  was  wide  enough 
for  several  boats  to  pass  one  another,  but  the  boats 
they  met  this  morning  were  nearly  all  carrying 
passengers,  as  Sunday  is  a  fiesta  when  no  one 
works  if  he  can  help  it.  Funny  and  queer  things 
attracted  the  children's  attention  all  along  the 
way;  once  they  saw  a  young  woman  washing  her 
husband's  hair,  dipping  up  water  from  the  canal 
and  throwing  it  over  him  in  streams.    Both  were 


THE  VIGA  171 

stripped  to  the  waist,  so  as  not  to  get  their  clothes 
wet  in  this  deluging  occupation.    Again  they  came 
to  two  young  men  digging  for  clams  with  their 
hands,  in  the  mud  of  the  canal.     Their  beautiful 
brown  bodies  shone  in  the  sun,  and  their  thick, 
black,  wavy  hair  and  great  dark  eyes  made  one 
think  of  the  well-known  picture  of  the  "Neapoli- 
tan Boy."     They  were  very  good-natured,  and 
when  Mrs.  Stevens  asked  what  they  were  doing 
and  could  not  understand  their  soft-voiced  reply, 
one  of  them  waded  to  the  boat  and  brought  her  a 
clam  so  that  she  might  have  her  answer  in  an  in- 
telligible form.     The  boat  passed  under  several 
bridges  and  one  of  these  was  so  low  that  the  boat- 
man signed  to  them  all  to  sit  down  or  lie  down  on 
the  floor  of  the  boat.     They  wondered  what  he 
would  do  with  the  frame  on  which  his  awning  was 
stretched,  and  were  much  amused  when  he  folded 
it    back   like   the   top   of   a   carriage.     He   then 
bent  over  and  pushed  the  boat  along  by  press- 
ing with  his   hands   against   the   bottom  of  the 
bridge. 

The  party  met  a  few  families  coining  down  the 
canal  with  grass  or  grain  of  some  kind,  and  in 


172  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

one  boat  a  young  man  with  his  wife  and  baby  sat 
in  the  stern  leaning  against  the  soft,  green  mass 
behind  them.  The  baby  was  eating  a  tamale  and 
was  evidently  enjoying  it,  for  she  picked  up  every 
crumb  that  fell  into  her  lap.  When  she  had  done, 
her  father  calmly  took  her  little  rebozo  and  wiped 
her  face  and  hands  with  it  without  much  regard 
for  the  garment. 

A  pleasure  party  they  met  had  several  children 
among  its  members,  and  five  of  these  were  lying 
on  their  stomachs,  as  Roy  had  done,  dipping  their 
hands  into  the  water  and  fishing  for  lily-pads,  of 
which  there  were  a  great  many.  All  along  the 
canal  they  met,  here  and  there,  boats  being  towed 
by  some  one  on  the  bank  as  well  as  poled  by  the 
boatmen;  and  occasionally,  tied  up  to  the  bank, 
they  saw  several  boats  fastened  in  line,  making  a 
sort  of  train.  These  had  staves  across  the  top 
and  straw  or  reed  mats  over  them.  They  saw 
household  goods  in  some  of  these  and  women 
cooking,  and  the  boatman  said  many  people  lived 
in  the  queer-looking  craft,  having  no  homes  at  all 
on  land.  This  would  not  have  seemed  so  bad,  if 
they  had  not  had  their  domestic  animals  living 


THE  VIGA  173 

with  them,  dogs,  and  goats,  and  chickens.    "Just 
like  Noah  in  the  Ark,"  said  Roy. 

"Well,  I  hope  Noah  had  more  room,"  said  Ray; 
"he  had  to  have,  of  course,  because  he  had  all  the 
animals  in  the  world." 

Among  the  boats  they  met  were  a  few  canoes, 
with  one  man  standing  up  in  each  and  poling;  one 
of  these  they  almost  upset  owing  to  their  boat- 
man's carelessness.  There  were  one  or  two  bum- 
boats,  too,  managed  by  women,  who  went  up  and 
down  among  the  other  boats  selling  food  of 
various  kinds  to  the  holiday-makers. 

Mr.  Stevens  decided  that  Ixtaeal'co  was  as  far 
up  the  canal  as  they  would  go,  and  that,  as  they 
still  had  to  stop  at  Santa  Anita  to  see  the  floating 
gardens,  they  would  not  get  out  at  Ixtacalco.  So 
they  turned  about  and  came  back  to  Santa  Anita, 
getting  a  delightful  breeze.  They  found  the  vil- 
lage decorated  with  cheap  flags  and  coloured  paper 
ornaments  stretched  on  ropes  across  the  street, 
because  it  was  the  fiesta  of  Santa  Anita,  and  they 
stopped  a  moment  at  the  door  of  the  little  church 
and  stood  quietly  among  the  worshippers,  most  of 
whom  were  kneeling,  and  heard  the  music,  which 


174  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

was  unexpectedly  good.  The  church  was  full  of 
set  pieces  of  flowers,  chiefly  daisies,  as  well  as  of 
bouquets  from  the  people's  gardens,  and  all  the 
lamps  were  trimmed  with  coloured  paper  like  the 
streets  outside. 

As  they  left  their  own  boat  and  walked  through 
the  village  to  the  smaller  craft  in  which  they  had 
to  continue  their  trip,  they  saw  a  curious  sight.  At 
the  back  of  one  of  the  adobe  huts,  under  an  arbor, 
they  saw  one  countryman  pulling  another's  tooth; 
and  as  they  came  back  past  the  same  place,  the 
whilom  dentist  was  now  cutting  the  hair  of  a  little 
boy  whose  father  held  him  fast  in  the  chair,  as  he 
did  not  much  like  the  operation. 

"He  can  turn  his  hand  to  'most  anything,  can't 
he?"  said  Roy. 

"Well,"  said  Ray,  "don't  you  remember  old 
Dr.  Walling  told  us  the  doctors  and  surgeons  all 
used  to  be  barbers,  too.  I  suppose  these  people 
haven't  divided  the  businesses  yet." 

A  short  walk  brought  them  to  another  and 
smaller  canal,  in  which  two  smaller  boats  of  the 
same  pattern  were  waiting.  They  stepped  into 
one,    and    their    boatman    began    to    pole    them 


< 
a 


THE  VIGA  175 

through  one  narrow  canal  after  another,  turning 
the  corners  and  weaving  his  way  among  the  lily- 
pads  with  great  skill. 

The  gardens  are  great  square  patches  of 
ground  which,  many  years  ago,  floated  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  water ;  but  the  planting  of  willows  and 
other  plants  with  spreading  and  tenacious  roots 
has  at  last  anchored  the  gardens  and  only  the 
canals  around  them  are  left.  Tall,  slim  poplar 
and  willow  trees  border  the  gardens,  and  in  be- 
tween, poppies  and  hollyhocks  and  morning- 
glories  provide  an  edge  of  colour  which  is  very 
pretty.  Roy  found  that  by  reaching  out  he  could 
occasionally  pull  up  a  radish,  or  an  onion,  or  a  bit 
of  lettuce,  and  he  made  up  quite  a  salad,  taking 
its  ingredients  one  by  one  instead  of  together. 
The  boatman  picked  some  of  the  long-stemmed 
water-lilies  and  made  chains  for  the  children  to 
put  around  their  necks,  and  a  bouquet  of  the 
purple  lilies  growing  in  clusters,  for  Mrs. 
Stevens. 

The  sky  was  very  blue,  the  gardens  very  pretty, 
and  the  motion  of  the  boat  quite  easy  and  gentle, 
and  the  children  were  delighted  with  the  ride  and 


176  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

the  experience.  They  were  sorry  to  go  back,  but 
were  consoled  by  the  fact  that  they  arrived  at  the 
Alameda,  or  park,  in  time  to  see  the  Sunday  noon 
promenade,  while  the  band  played,  and  they  sat  in 
comfortable  chairs  and  looked  on. 


CHAPTEE  XIV 
ACROSS  THE  MOUNTAINS 

For  several  days  Mrs.  Stevens  had  noticed  that 
Roy,  who  was  generally  much  more  active  than 
Bay, had  seemed  languid  and  unusually  quiet;  and 
she  finally  called  her  husband's  attention  to  the 
boy. 

"I  should  not  wonder,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  "if 
the  height  of  the  city  were  affecting  him,  and 
it  might  be  a  good  plan  for  us  to  go  to  a  lower 
altitude  for  awhile.  I  will  see  Mr.  Clarke,  and  ask 
if  he  has  a  place  to  recommend. ' ' 

And  so  it  came  about  that,  one  morning,  bright 
and  early,  for  all  morning  trains  seem  to  leave 
the  City  of  Mexico  at  very  early  hours,  the  family 
found  themselves  aboard  the  train  for  Cuerna- 
vaca  (Kwer-na-vah'-ca),  a  little  town  across  the 
mountains  which,  not  more  than  six  or  seven 
years  ago,  was  accessible  only  by  stage.  The 
children  were  rather  pleased  than  otherwise  to 

177 


178  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

get  aboard  a  train  again,  and  decidedly  glad  that 
they  were  to  see  a  new  town.  To  be  sure  the  ride 
was  to  last  only  about  four  hours,  but  it  was  to 
carry  them  across  the  Ajusco  (A-hus'-co)  Moun- 
tains and  outside  the  Valley  of  Mexico,  where 
everything  would  be  different. 

The  road  left  the  city  by  an  easy  ascent,  pass- 
ing the  suburbs  of  Tacubaya  and  Mixcoac  and 
others  with  which  they  had  become  familiar,  the 
great  pink  mill  which  is  called  the  Molino  del  Rey 
(King's  Mill)  and  which  marks  the  battlefield  of 
that  name,  the  heights  of  Chapultepec,  and  the 
other  landmarks  that  had  begun  to  seem  like  old 
friends;  and  for  a  time  it  ran  between  beautiful 
gardens  and  orchards  full  of  fruit,  apples,  pears, 
and  peaches.  "When  we  come  back,"  said  Mr. 
Stevens,  "the  strawberry  girls  will  board  the 
train  here,  and  find  plenty  of  customers;  for,  by 
the  time  we  have  ridden  nearly  four  hours,  we 
shall  be  hungry  and  only  too  glad  to  buy." 

"I  suppose  they  know  that  we  have  just  had 
breakfast,  and  that  is  why  they  aren't  here  now," 
said  Ray.  "But  I  think  I  could  eat  some  straw- 
berries, anyhow,  if  I  had  them.    They  don't  look 


ACROSS  THE  MOUNTAINS  179 

red-ripe  like  ours,  but  they  are  ripe,  just  the  same, 
and  they  are  so  much  sweeter  than  ours." 

"They  have  more  water  in  them  than  ours," 
said  Roy,  standing  up  for  his  beloved  country  and 
all  its  products,  as  usual. 

"Well,  water's  good,"  said  Kay,  not  to  be 
argued  down. 

As  the  train  climbed  higher,  they  began  to  get 
a  more  and  more  extended  view  of  the  valley,  with 
the  city  in  its  midst,  and  in  the  far  distance  a  hazy 
view  of  one  or  two  of  the  six  lakes  that  the  valley 
contains.  The  land  on  either  side  the  train  grew 
more  rocky  and  mountainous— it  was  lava-rock, 
Mr.  Stevens  explained,  and  this  part  of  the  moun- 
tains was  called  the  Pedregal  (Pay-dray-gahl'),  or 
"the  stony  place."  The  party  were  divided  be- 
tween admiration  of  the  view  and  of  the  beautiful 
wild  flowers  which  grew  in  the  clefts  of  the  rocks 
as  luxuriantly  as  if  cared  for  in  a  garden.  They 
had  never  seen  the  dahlia,  the  cosmos,  and  the  bego- 
nia growing  wild  before ;  and  there  were  dozens  of 
beautiful  blossoms  that  none  of  them  had  ever 
seen  anywhere,  among  them  a  splendid  scarlet  lily. 

"I  wish  we  could  stop  off  here  and  get  some  of 


180  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

these  flowers,"  said  Ray,  and  as  if  in  answer  to 
her  wish  the  train  stopped,  and  the  conductor,  in 
reply  to  Mr.  Stevens'  question,  said  it  would 
probably  stand  there  ten  minutes,  as  something 
was  wrong  with  a  truck.  He  helped  Mr.  Stevens 
off,  who  gathered  flowers  for  them  all  and  came 
back  laden  with  a  mass  of  coloured  blossoms  in 
which  Ray  buried  her  face  with  delight. 

When  they  came  near  the  summit  of  the 
range,  they  began  to  stop  at  tiny  stations,  of 
which  a  dozen  people  seemed  sometimes  to  com- 
prise all  the  inhabitants.  They  looked  very  poor 
and  forlorn  in  some  cases,  and  as  the  children 
watched  the  little  ones  scramble  for  pennies  they 
wondered  how  these  mountaineers  had  lived  be- 
fore the  trains  began  to  come  through,  and  when 
the  journey  by  stage  was  undertaken  by  so  few 
people.  Some  one  told  Mrs.  Stevens  that  there 
was  so  little  water  up  here  that  the  stations  where 
the  train's  water-tanks  were  situated  were  fairly 
besieged  when  the  trains  came  along,  in  order  to 
get  water  from  the  tank.  There  was  nearly 
always  a  rural  standing  near  the  station,  waiting 
to  see  if  he  was  needed. 


ACROSS  THE  MOUNTAINS  181 

Finally  they  reached  La  Cima,  the  highest 
point,  where  they  were  nearly  ten  thousand  feet 
above  sea-level,  the  highest  elevation  the  children 
had  ever  reached.  They  were  very  much  amused 
at  one  passenger,  a  lady  who  kept  asking  the  con- 
ductor all  along  if  the  train  had  not  yet  come  to 
the  top,  and  who  began  to  get  out  her  smelling- 
salts  and  prepare  to  be  ill  as  soon  as  the  train 
reached  the  station  which  she  thought  was  the 
highest.  After  it  was  passed,  she  put  away  her 
medicines  and  preventives  gradually,  and  when 
the  real  summit  was  reached  she  was  reading  a 
novel  in  blissful  ignorance.  Roy  did  not  feel  very 
well,  himself — his  head  ached  and  he  felt  as  if  he 
were  going  to  have  nosebleed,  but  he  kept  very 
quiet  and  in  a  short  time  the  discomfort  passed, 
as  the  train  descended.  It  was  a  wonderful 
descent,  through  short  tunnels,  among  great  hills 
of  lava,  looking  down  always  at  the  new  valley 
they  were  soon  to  enter.  For  almost  an  hour 
before  they  reached  Cuernavaca,  they  could  see  it 
down  in  the  valley,  apparently  a  little  red-tiled 
village  on  a  flat  plain,  embowered  in  trees.  When 
they  reached  it,  they  were  surprised  to  find  it  a 


182  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

good-sized  town  and  far  from  flat,  being  situated 
all  along  the  banks  of  two  steep  barran'cas  or 
ravines. 

Its  domes  and  towers  in  the  midst  of  the  tree- 
tops  made  it  look  like  an  Arabian  town,  the 
children  thought,  judging  from  pictures  they  had 
seen. 

When  the  train  stopped  at  the  station,  the  first 
thing  that  caught  Ray's  eye  was  a  little  Mexican 
girl  with  chains  of  beads  to  sell.  She  had  very 
bright  eyes  and  very  white  teeth,  which  she 
showed  in  a  ready  smile,  and  she  sold  her  beads 
for  fifty  cents  Mexican  per  string;  but  when  Ray 
came  to  examine  them  they  were  not  all  beads — 
indeed  most  of  them  were  seeds  or  beans,  some 
grey,  the  "  Job's  tears"  that  we  see  sometimes  in 
the  States,  and  others  red  with  a  long  black  mark 
on  one  side.  These  Ray  found  enchanting,  but 
her  mother  advised  her  not  to  buy  at  once,  as  she 
would  probably  see  many  other  things  she  might 
prefer  to  spend  her  money  for. 

When  the  children  saw  the  coach  they  were  to 
ride  in  from  the  station,  they  were  much  excited. 
It  was  a  great  four-seated  one,  with  a  wooden 


ACROSS  THE  MOUNTAINS  183 

body  painted  bright  red,  four  mules  to  draw  it, 
and  a  sort  of  rumble,  or  footman's  seat,  at  the  back. 
The  children  begged  to  be  allowed  to  ride  in  this, 
and  Mr.  Stevens  said  they  might,  though  their 
mother  thought  it  a  rather  doubtful  proceed- 
ing. "Oh,  mother!  no  one  knows  us  here," 
begged  Kay,  "and  it  will  be  so  jolly,  dangling  our 
heels  out  there  behind  you." 

"Well,  you  must  take  care  not  to  fall  off,  then," 
said  Mrs.  Stevens.    "Hold  on  tight." 

It  was  not  at  all  an  unnecessary  caution,  for 
the  streets  of  Cuernavaca,  like  those  of  most 
Mexican  towns,  were  paved  with  cobbles  and  full 
of  gutters,  and  the  children  found  the  drive  ex- 
citing beyond  their  expectations.  The  driver 
cracked  his  long  whip  very  often,  and  every  time 
he  did  so  the  mule  receiving  the  lash  jumped  aside 
and  made  the  whole  equipage,  or  "outfit"  as  they 
say  in  the  "West,  swerve  in  that  direction.  They 
rattled  and  plunged  through  the  narrow  streets, 
the  people  fleeing  before  them  to  the  sidewalks, 
and  drew  up  in  front  of  the  hotel  where  they  were 
to  stay  with  a  grand  flourish.  And  behold !  there 
was  the  little  girl  with  the  red  beans!     She  had 


184  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

got  the  driver  of  another  coach  to  give  her  "a 
lift"  back,  and  was  there  ahead  of  them  with  her 
twinkling  eyes  and  shining  white  teeth,  her  long 
braids,  and  her  little  print  gown  which  almost 
touched  the  ground,  although  she  did  not  look 
much  older  than  Eay. 

A  little  white  dog  also  came  to  welcome  them, 
and  made  the  children  feel  at  home  at  once.  At 
the  door,  sitting  on  the  sidewalk,  was  an  old,  old 
woman,  skinny  and  wrinkled  and  brown,  with  a 
heap  of  pottery  all  around  her,  in  each  piece  of 
which  the  decoration  was  composed  of  little  square 
or  diamond-shaped  bits  of  china  and  crockery  set 
into  the  clay  while  it  was  soft,  in  a  sort  of  design. 
''How  do  they  ever  get  all  those  pieces  broken 
so  even  and  just  the  same  size!"  exclaimed  Ray. 
''I  think  it  is  quite  wonderful — but  it  isn't  pretty 
when  it's  done,"  she  added. 

"We  must  try  to  see  some  of  their  pottery  in 
the  making,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens,  "but  now  come 
in,  my  dear,  and  let  us  get  washed  and  refreshed 
before  luncheon."  They  entered  the  great  door 
of  the  patio,  where  the  portero  had  already 
placed  their  hand-baggage  until  their  rooms  were 


ACROSS  THE  MOUNTAINS  185 

assigned;  but  a  noise  made  them  turn  back,  and 
there  were  their  trunks  on  a  car  which  carried 
baggage  and  all  sorts  of  merchandise  from  the 
railroad  to  the  centre  of  the  town.  It  ran  on  the 
tramway  tracks  and  was  like  a  freight-car  with- 
out any  sides.  Almost  every  day,  it  drew  up  like 
that  before  the  hotel,  with  trunks  and  valises  for 
the  passengers,  goods  for  the  storekeepers,  stuff 
for  the  market,  etc.  The  arrival  of  the  coach  and 
this  freight  car  from  the  "down  train"  was  one  of 
the  daily  sensations,  and  after  the  children  had 
grown  accustomed  to  the  town,  they  were  as 
curious  as  the  natives  to  see  who  and  what  had 
come  each  day. 


CHAPTER  XV 

CUERNAVACA 

The  patio  of  the  hotel  was  a  double  one  with 
a  sort  of  wide  covered  corridor  through  the 
middle,  paved  with  square  red  tiles  and  open  on 
both  sides  so  that  the  guests  could  sit  in  it  on 
either  side  and  look  into  one  patio  or  the  other. 
And  the  patios  were  well  worth  looking  into. 
They  were  full  of  beautiful  vines,  climbing  clear 
to  the  roof  or  hanging  down  from  the  roof,  and 
of  flowering  plants  or  cactus  growing  in  the  big 
red  clay  jars  that  the  Mexicans  call  o lias  (oy'-yas). 
In  one  end  was  a  round  well  of  red  clay  where 
potted  plants  leaned  over  to  see  themselves  in  the 
water,  and  a  little  fountain  played  musically. 
This  water  was  used  for  the  plants,  and  by  the 
little  white  dog  and  the  birds  as  a  drinking  place. 
Many  humming-birds  flitted  about  among  the 
vines.  If  you  looked  up,  you  saw  the  second-floor 
gallery,  also  bordered  by  vines,  and  above  that 

186 


CUERNAVACA  187 

the  red-tiled,  curly-edged  roof  with  potted  plants 
ranged  along  the  edge,  their  brilliant  colours 
shining  in  the  sunlight. 

"Oh,  I  wonder  if  we  can  get  up  on  the  roof!" 
said  Roy. 

"Si,  si,"  said  the  portero,  smiling,  for  he  under- 
stood more  English  than  he  could  speak. 

' '  He  says  yes,  mother, ' '  said  Ray.  * '  May  we  go 
up  there  this  morning!" 

"We'll  see.  What  we  have  to  do  now  is  to  make 
ourselves  presentable,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens,  and 
they  all  followed  Mr.  Stevens  and  the  portero  who 
led  the  way  to  the  rooms  selected. 

"Mercy!"  said  Ray  when  they  saw  them. 
"We'll  get  lost  in  such  a  big  place."  And  truly, 
the  rooms  were  immense  for  people  used  to  the 
small  rooms  of  American  houses  and  apart- 
ments. One  was  at  least  forty  feet  long  and 
twenty  wide,  and  the  other  adjoining  it  twenty 
by  sixteen. 

"You  and  Ray  can  have  a  room  together  here," 
said  Mr.  Stevens,  turning  to  Roy.  "I  was  afraid 
you  would  both  be  lonely  alone  in  such  large 
rooms.      This    has    plenty    of    tall    screens,    so 


188  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

you  can  make  two  rooms  or  even  four  of  it,  if 
you  wish." 

"And  they  all  look  out  on  the  street  and 
have  balconies — how  very  pleasant!"  said  Mrs. 
Stevens,  going  from  one  long  window  to  another 
and  stepping  out  on  the  little  tiled  balconies,  just 
wide  enough  for  a  chair  or  two. 

"This  room  has  the  morning  sun,"  said,  the 
portero.  He  said  it  in  Spanish,  but  Mrs.  Stevens 
understood  him  and  was  very  glad  it  was  so,  as 
she  said  it  would  make  the  rooms  cooler  for  after- 
noon naps.  The  floors  of  the  rooms,  like  those  of 
the  gallery,  were  of  red  tiles,  but  in  the  rooms 
there  were  great  square  mats  woven  of  reeds,  to 
walk  on. 

' '  They  have  electric  lights ! ' '  said  Roy. 

"Yes,"  said  his  father,  "they  tell  me  there  is 
hardly  a  hotel  of  any  pretensions  in  Mexico  with- 
out electric  lights  and  electric  bells,  just  as  in 
some  of  the  smallest  and  remotest  towns  of  Euro- 
pean countries.  Electricity  seems  to  go  every- 
where." 

By  the  time  they  had  unpacked  their  trunks  and 
bags  and  the  children  had  got  into  clean  clothes, 


CUERNAVACA  189 

it  was  time  for  dinner.  ''You  children  can  go 
down  and  wait  for  us  in  the  patio,"  said  Mrs. 
Stevens,  so  Roy  and  Ray  were  soon  standing  in 
the  doorway  beside  the  portero,  and  gazing  out 
into  the  town  which  was  to  be  their  home  for  at 
least  a  fortnight.  The  portero,  they  noticed, 
never  stood  without  leaning  against  something, 
and  always  sat  down,  when  he  could,  on  a  little 
bench  just  inside  the  door.  They  learned  after- 
ward that  at  night  the  great  door  was  shut  and 
barred,  while  a  little  door  cut  out  of  one  side  of 
it  was  locked  with  a  key — and  such  a  key ! — about 
eight  inches  long  and  thick  in  proportion. 

The  portero,  wrapped  in  his  serape,  slept  on  a 
straw  mat  on  the  floor  or  on  the  bench,  and  was  at 
hand  to  open  the  door  for  any  one  coming  in  late 
at  night  or  going  out  early  in  the  morning  before 
the  hotel  was  open.  Many  guests,  they  found, 
liked  to  go  out  for  horseback  rides  in  the  early 
morning,  coming  back  in  time  for  a  late  breakfast. 
There  was  a  shop  next  door  to  the  hotel,  the 
entrance  to  which  was  at  right  angles  with  the 
hotel  entrance  so  that  the  children  could  look  in 
from  where  they  stood.    Many  women  were  in  the 


190  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

shop,  and  as  they  had  to  wait  their  turn  and  the 
few  seats  were  occupied,  they  sat  down  on  the 
floor,  wrapped  in  their  rebozos,  and  patiently 
waited  for  attention.  Across  the  street  was  the 
market-place  and  to  the  left  the  Plaza  or  public 
square.  One  end  of  the  hotel  looked  into  the 
square,  and  as  the  rooms  on  that  end  were  not 
occupied,  the  children  were  told  they  might  go  in 
there  and  look  out  from  the  balconies  whenever 
they  liked.  They  found  out  afterward  that  this 
permission  was  quite  valuable,  and  that  the  Plaza 
was  an  interesting  place  to  watch. 

They  were  quite  ready  for  dinner  when  the 
doors  of  the  dining-room  were  finally  opened,  and 
did  justice  to  the  soup  and  steak  and  vegetables, 
the  egg-course  and  salad,  and  the  pudding.  ' '  It 's 
all  just  like  home,  except  the  eggs,"  said  Ray, 
"we  don't  ever  have  eggs  for  dinner."  The 
children  by  this  time  had  learned  how  to  order 
their  eggs — "en  pla'to,"  if  they  wished  them 
poached/ '  en  ranche'ro,"  if  they  wanted  them  with 
peppers,  and  "tortilla  de  huevos  (way'-vos),"  if 
they  wished  an  omelet,  while  "huevos  fritos"  and 
"huevos  duros"  meant  fried  and  hard-boiled  eggs. 


CUERNAVACA  191 

They  could  say  'heftek  con  papas"  for  beefsteak 
with  potatoes,  though  they  nearly  always  laughed 
when  they  said  it,  it  sounded  so  funny.  They 
found  here,  however,  that  the  waiter  was  as 
anxious  to  learn  English  as  they  were  to  show  off 
their  Spanish,  so,  whatever  they  asked  for  in 
Spanish  he  promptly  translated  into  English,  to 
show  them  he  understood  that  language  and 
wanted  to  speak  it  and  learn  more.  He  was  a  nice 
young  fellow,  and  the  children  liked  him  very 
much.  All  the  waiters,  the  portero,  and  the  mozo 
who  looked  after  the  flowers,  were  dressed  in  white, 
and  the  two  latter  were  barefoot.  The  mozo 
never  walked,  he  trotted,  and  always  seemed  ab- 
sorbed in  his  work.  He  had  a  very  kind  face  and 
never  failed  to  smile  when  you  spoke  to  him. 

After  dinner,  the  family  went  up  on  the  roof 
to  "take  the  lay  of  the  land"  as  Mr.  Stevens  said. 
They  found  one  corner  of  the  roof  covered,  making 
a  loggia,  where  there  were  steamer-chairs,  so  that 
one  could  sit  there  in  the  morning  or  evening  and 
get  the  view  and  the  breeze.  In  the  afternoon,  it 
was  rather  sunny  even  in  the  loggia. 

On  one  side,  they  could  look  out  over  one  side 


192  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

of  the  town,  the  lower  side,  and  away  across  be- 
yond the  foothills  and  the  lava  rock  they  could  see 
Popocatepetl  and  Ixtaccihuatl,  sometimes  a  cold 
grey-white    against   the   eastern   sky,    sometimes 
rosy  and  cloud-like  under  the  sunset  glow.    From 
the  other  end  of  the  roof  they  could  see  down  into 
the  heart  of  the  market-place,  which  was  a  hollow 
square,  and  the  children  spent  altogether  a  num- 
ber  of   hours    watching   the   movements    of    the 
market-people.     From  the  other  points  of  view 
there  were  other  mountains,  not  snow-covered,  but 
almost  equally  beautiful,  and  the  upper  part  of  the 
town,  showing  the  Cathedral  with  its  domes  and 
spires  against  the  sky.    When  the  party  had  taken 
in  the  surroundings  with  many  exclamations  of 
wonder   and   admiration,   they   went   downstairs 
again,  and  Roy  and  Ray  and  Mrs.  Stevens  gave 
themselves    the    pleasure    of    a    nap    while    Mr. 
Stevens  read  his  paper.    When  at  last  they  all 
came  down  to  the  patio,  they  met  the  wife  of  the 
proprietor,  Mrs.  Knight,  who  said,  "If  you  want 
some  amusement  this  evening  you  can  find  it  by 
going  to   one   of   the   balconies   overlooking   the 
Plaza."    But  she  would  not  tell  them  what  to  ex- 


CUERNAVACA  193 

pect,  and  only  smiled  at  their  curious  questions. 
You  may  be  certain  they  lost  no  time  after  supper 
in  stationing  themselves  on  the  balcony,  particu- 
larly as  they  heard  a  band  tuning  up  out  in  the 
band-stand  in  the  centre  of  the  square.  Pres- 
ently the  people  of  the  town  began  to  gather,  the 
women  in  rebozos  and  mantillas,  the  men  wearing 
their  hats  or  sombreros.  They  sat  in  groups,  the 
men  together,  and  the  women  together,  on  the 
seats  ranged  in  double  rows  facing  each  other 
around  the  Plaza,  until  the  music  began.  Then 
they  began  to  promenade  around  and  around  the 
Plaza,  the  men  going  in  an  opposite  direction  from 
the  women,  and  making  an  outer  circle,  while  the 
women  composed  the  inner  one. 

They  promenaded  as  long  as  each  number 
lasted,  and  then  sat  down  during  the  intermission. 
Scarcely  any  one  talked  during  the  march,  but  eyes 
were  busy,  and  Mrs.  Knight  explained  that  much 
of  the  courting  was  done  during  these  prome- 
nades by  means  of  admiring  and  coquettish 
glances.  "They  make  me  dizzy,"  said  Roy, 
finally;  "I  wish  they'd  reverse." 

"See!   there  are   some   little   bits   of  children 


194  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

marching!"  exclaimed  Ray,  and  she  was  right. 
Two  little  girls  of  seven  or  eight,  with  a  very 
small  boy  not  more  than  four,  were  keeping  step 
with  the  grown  people  and  looking  very  easy  and 
as  if  they  were  accustomed  to  be  there. 

Round  and  round  the  circles  went,  until  the 
twins  grew  sleepy,  but  they  did  not  want  to  go  in 
until  they  had  heard  "La  Golondrina,"  the  music 
that  fills  the  same  place  in  a  Mexican  heart  that 
"Home,  Sweet  Home"  does  in  the  American.* 
Presently,  it  came,  sung  by  one  of  the  band  while 
several  others  accompanied  him  on  their  instru- 
ments. It  proved  to  be  very  sweet  and  plaintive 
music,  and  the  family  always  looked  for  it  after- 
ward with  pleasant  anticipations.  And  with  this 
delightful  music  ringing  in  their  ears,  the  children 
went  to  bed,  looking  forward  to  many  days  in  this 
charming  place. 

*The  words  and  music  of  liLa  Golondrina'"  are  given  at 
the  end  of  the  book. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  SIGHTS  OF  CUERNAVACA 

Roy  and  Ray  were  never  tired  of  visiting  the 
market-place.  It  was  opposite  the  hotel  and 
occupied  a  whole  square.  The  centre  was  without 
a  roof,  and  so  not  every  one  could  have  a  stall  or 
booth  under  cover;  and  those  who  could  not,  set 
up  a  sort  of  shed  made  of  canvas  or  simply  one  of 
their  useful  reed  mats  supported  on  sticks.  In 
the  slight  shade  cast  by  these  mats  they  assembled 
the  goods  they  had  for  sale  in  little  heaps  on  the 
ground,  and  sold  them  at  so  much  a  heap.  This, 
of  course,  was  the  custom  with  fruit,  seeds,  nuts, 
grains,  and  things  of  that  kind,  and  the  whole 
family  said  they  had  never  before  seen  so  many 
seeds  and  fruits  they  could  not  name.  The  flower- 
sellers  were  under  cover,  and  the  meat-venders, 
and  the  women  selling  cooked  eatables.  Most  of 
the  pottery  was  piled  up  in  the  sun,  and  the 
baskets  and  reed-work  in  general  were  in  canvas 

195 


196  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

tents  or  houses.    Then  the  shopkeepers  had  booths 
for  selling  serapes,  rebozos,  dress-prints,  edgings, 
and  trinkets  of  various  kinds.    Along  the  sides  of 
the  market  in  certain  accustomed  places,   some 
women  had  a  rough  kind  of  range  made  of  clay 
and  stone,  on  which  they  cooked  savoury  soups  and 
stews  and  the  "filling"  for  the  enchiladas   (en- 
chee-lah'-das)  and  the  tamales,  as  well  as  frijoles 
and  chile  con  came  (chee'-lay  con  car'-nay),  meat 
with   peppers.     Families   having  booths    in   the 
market  and  unable  to  do  their  own  cooking,  sent 
here  for  their  meals  and  ate  them  sitting  on  the 
floor  behind  their  counters.    Other  cooking-places 
had  tables  with  coarse  white  cloth  coverings,  and 
served    meals    to    those    who    came — principally 
bread  and  eggs  and  coffee — never  any  butter,  for 
that  is  a  scarce  article  in  Mexico.    Mrs.  Knight 
told  the  children  that  on  the  chief  market-days, 
Monday  and  Thursday,  whole  families  of  country 
people  got  their  living  in  the  market;   and  the 
children  found  out  for  themselves  that  many  of 
the  people  who  had  stalls  under  cover  slept  in 
them  at  night,  to  keep  watch  over  their  goods  and 
be  on  hand  early  in  the  morning. 


^  € 


Market  Scenes 


THE  SIGHTS  OF  CUERNAVACA        197 

"What  is  that  white  stuff  they  are  selling 
to-day?"  asked  Mrs.  Stevens,  one  morning,  in- 
dicating a  row  of  women  sitting  on  mats  in  the 
centre  of  the  street,  each  with  lumps  of  something 
white  in  front  of  her. 

"That  is  lime,"  said  Mrs.  Knight.  "They  cook 
it  with  their  corn  to  take  the  hull  off  the  grain. 
Then  they  carry  a  basket  of  corn  to  the  mill — you 
have  seen  the  sign,  'Molino  de  Nixtamal'? — and 
it  is  put  through  several  machines  and  mixed  with 
the  necessary  quantity  of  water  and  comes  out 
dough,  and  they  carry  it  away  in  the  same  basket. 
The  women  stand  or  sit  and  watch  the  process,  so 
that  it  would  not  be  easy  for  the  mill-men  to  take 
toll  even  if  they  wanted  to." 

"Do  you  do  your  marketing  over  there  in  the 
market?"  asked  Mrs.  Stevens. 

"Yes,  except  for  meat  and  flowers.  Those  are 
brought  to  the  hotel — and,  by  the  way,  you  must 
see  Angelina,  the  flower-woman,  some  day,  she  is 
so  pretty.  Most  of  the  citizens  do  their  marketing 
here,  for  there  are  no  provision-shops.  But  we 
never  pay  the  first  price  for  things,  as  tourists 
very  often  do.    I  think  we  have  to  pay  a  little  more 


198  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

than  the  Mexicans,  but  it  seems  so  little,  anyhow, 
that  one  does  not  mind." 

"I  think  the  beggars  are  interesting,"  said  Bay. 
"I  saw  a  blind  young  man  to-day  in  the  market, 
and  he  had  brought  a  cushion  to  kneel  on,  and  he 
knelt  right  up  straight  on  the  cushion  and  rolled 
up  his  eyes  so  that  you  couldn  't  help  seeing  he  was 
blind.  He  was  right  out  in  the  sun  without  a  hat; 
if  he  hadn't  been  blind  I  should  think  that  would 
have  made  him  so." 

''And  there's  a  little  boy  that  leads  another  little 
blind  boy  around,  and  brings  him  right  up  in  front 
of  you  so  you  can't  help  seeing  him,  but  he  doesn't 
say  anything — he  just  looks  pitiful,"  said  Roy. 

"Unfortunately,"  said  Mrs.  Knight,  "the  chil- 
dren are  so  attractive  and  so  'cunning'  as  Ameri- 
cans say,  that  tourists  are  very  likely  to  scatter  a 
few  pennies  among  them  just  to  see  their  pleasure. 
And  all  the  children  have  learned  to  say  'Da  mi 
un  centavo/  and  say  it  even  in  English,  'Give  me 
wan  cent.'  " 

Roy  and  Ray  laughed — they  were  very  familiar 
with  the  demand  and  the  accent  always  amused 
them. 


THE  SIGHTS  OF  CUERNAVACA        199 

One  of  the  places  to  which  the  family  went  one 
morning  was  very  fascinating  to  the  grown  people, 
and  not  so  much  so  to  the  children,  though  they 
were  interested  in  its  history.  This  was  the 
Jardin  (Har-deen')  de  la  Borda,  or  Borda  Garden. 
There  were  stated  hours  and  a  fee  for  admission, 
and  the  family  soon  learned  that  the  safe  time- 
if  there  was  any  safe  time,  for  the  garden  is  not 
well  kept  and  has  its  dangers— was  before  noon. 

Mrs.  Stevens  quite  fell  in  love  with  the  mossy 
walks  and  walls,  out  of  the  crevices  of  which  little 
lizards  glided,  and  over  which  the  mango-trees 
hung  heavy  with  their  beautiful  yellow  fruit  with 
its  red  cheeks.  She  liked  the  tangled  white  rose 
vines  over  the  arbor,  and  the  clogged  wells  and 
fountains,  so  full  of  leaves  that  they  could  hardly 
flow— and  above  all,  she  liked  the  little  lake  with 
its  fleet  of  snow-white  geese,  and  the  terrace  of 
stone  steps  bordering  all  one  side  of  it.  For  a 
long  time  one  day  they  sat  and  watched  an  old 
Indian  at  the  top  of  the  steps,  gathering  mangoes 
from  the  trees  with  something  made  of  straw  that 
looked  like  a  mammoth  egg-beater— it  spooned  the 
mangoes  off  the  trees  very  deftly.    He  consented 


200  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

to  let  Roy  try  it,  but  though  it  looked  easy,  Roy 
had  to  confess  that  there  was  skill  in  the  use  of 
the  tool,  for  he  could  not  bring  down  a  single 
mango.  The  odour  of  the  decaying  mangoes  on  the 
ground,  with  that  of  the  dead  leaves,  was  very 
powerful  and  disagreeable,  but  there  were  two 
places  where  they  could  escape  it,  the  two  pavilions 
at  the  lower  corners  of  the  garden.  These  looked 
away  off  across  the  barranca  to  the  hills  and 
mountains,  a  view  of  which  the  elders  never  tired; 
and  as  the  pavilions  were  raised  above  the  level  of 
the  garden  at  that  point,  they  were  dry  and  safe. 
It  was  here  that  Mr.  Stevens  told  the  twins  one 
day  the  history  of  the  garden. 

' '  A  poor  boy  came  over  here  from  France  in  the 
beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,"  he  said, 
"and  became  a  miner.  He  ended  by  owning 
several  mines  and  becoming  worth  some  sixty 
millions  of  dollars.  He  founded  this  garden  in 
1762  and  never  tired  of  improving  it,  and  it  is 
said  that  he  spent  more  than  a  million  dollars  on 
it.  He  hardly  knew  what  to  do  with  his  money — 
he  had  so  much  of  it — but  he  spent  another  million 
on  the  church  at  Tasco,  fifty  miles  from  here. 


THE  SIGHTS  OF  CUERNAVACA         201 

When  he  died,  the  garden  descended  to  his 
heirs. 

"In  the  short  reign  of  Maximilian  and  Carlotta, 
it  is  said  the  people  wished  to  buy  the  garden  and 
present  it  to  them,  as  the  empress  was  very  fond 
of  it;  and  one  payment  had  been  made  when  the 
downfall  of  the  empire  put  an  end  to  these 
plans.  The  family  owning  the  garden  lives  in 
Europe,  and  the  garden  suffers  in  consequence 
and  is  not  kept  up  as  it  should  be.  If  it  were  not 
for  the  dangers  arising  from  the  rotting  fruit  and 
stagnant  water,  it  would  be  probably  much  more 
used.  But  even  in  its  present  condition,  it  is 
beautiful." 

Usually,  when  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stevens  spent  an 
hour  in  the  garden,  the  children  spent  one  in  the 
Cathedral-grounds  instead.  They  were  large  and 
dry  and  open  to  the  sun,  though  there  was  shade 
if  one  wanted  it,  and  it  was  one  of  the  few  places 
where  there  was  grass.  And  there  was  nearly 
always  something  going  on  in  the  Cathedral  or 
one  of  the  two  chapels,  bringing  the  villagers 
and  country-people  there,  while  the  yard  itself  was 
a  thoroughfare  and  a  short-cut  for  people  going 


202  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

from  one  street  to  another.  Roy  and  Ray  liked  to 
sit  on  one  of  the  tombs  and  see  the  peons  take  off 
their  hats  and  salute  as  they  passed  the  church 
door;  they  liked  to  see  the  young  seminarists — 
boys  studying  for  the  priesthood — marching  from 
one  building  to  another  with  a  priest  in  charge; 
they  liked  to  watch  the  priests  themselves,  as  they 
occasionally  walked  up  and  down  the  cloisters, 
reading  their  breviaries  or  studying  some  theo- 
logical book;  they  especially  liked  to  see  the 
sacristan  come  to  ring  the  Cathedral  bells.  The 
rope  hung  outside  the  walls,  within  the  reach  of 
any  mischievous  boy,  but  it  was  never  tampered 
with.  The  sacristan  rang  the  hours,  and  on  days 
when  there  was  a  fiesta  or  saint's  day,  the  bells  of 
all  the  churches  kept  up  a  continual  ringing  and 
made  such  a  discord  that  the  family  were  all  glad 
when  the  services  were  over. 

"Those  bells  just  tumble  head-over-heels  when 
they  ring, ' '  said  Roy ; ' '  you  watch  them  and  you  '11 
see;"  and  it  did  look  sometimes  as  if  they  made 
complete  revolutions. 

One  day  in  particular  was  celebrated  during 
their  stay — the  feast  of  Maria  Carmen,  on  July 


THE  SIGHTS  OF  CUERNAVACA         203 

16th.  The  wife  of  President  Diaz  was  named 
for  Maria  Carmen,  so  that  it  was  her  name- 
day  as  well  as  the  saint's.  The  little  chapel 
in  one  corner  of  the  yard  was  filled  to  overflowing, 
and  the  overflow,  instead  of  going  to  another 
church,  simply  knelt  on  the  ground  outside  the 
church  door,  and  these  people  were  quite  as  silent 
and  reverent  as  those  inside  the  church. 

One  Sunday  the  family  went  to  Mass  at  the 
Cathedral.  It  was  a  most  impressive  sight,  seen 
from  the  rear  of  the  long  Cathedral,  the  rows 
upon  rows  of  women  kneeling  on  one  side  of  the 
aisle,  with  their  rebozos  over  their  heads,  and  the 
bareheaded,  devout-looking  men  kneeling  on 
the  other,  while  children  knelt  beside  their 
mothers  and  were  taught  to  make  the  sign  of  the 
cross.  One  thing,  however,  came  near  driving 
Roy  and  Ray  out  of  the  church  in  disgrace.  The 
little  white  dog  from  the  hotel  had  followed  some 
one — perhaps  themselves — to  the  Cathedral  yard, 
and  then,  losing  his  guide,  had  decided  to  go  to 
Mass  on  his  own  account.  He  walked  in  very 
quietly — no  tail-wagging — and  took  his  station 
directly  in  the  middle  aisle  at  the  rear,  where  he 


204  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

sat  down  for  a  time  and  watched  intently  what 
was  going  on  at  the  altar.  Finally  he  did  what 
any  one  at  the  back  of  the  congregation  was  free 
to  do — took  his  leave  quietly  when  he  thought 
other  affairs  needed  his  presence.  The  children 
fully  expected  he  would  bark  when  he  saw  them, 
as  he  often  did  when  he  came  to  meet  them  else- 
where, but  he  looked  at  them  without  a  sign  of 
recognition,  and  his  whole  behaviour  was  so  de- 
corous and  like  that  of  a  person  who  knew  what 
was  due  to  the  place  and  time,  that  Roy  and  Ray 
could  not  help  smiling  and  looking  at  each  other  so 
meaningly  that  some  of  the  congregation  frowned 
at  them. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  COUNTRYSIDE 

There  were  many  little  excursions  to  be  made 
from  Cuernavaca  on  foot  or  on  burros  or  horse- 
back, the  Stevens  family  generally  preferring  to 
go  on  foot,  so  that  they  could  stop  when  they  liked, 
to  examine  things  by  the  roadside  or  enjoy  the 
views.  One  of  these  trips  was  to  San  Anton,  a 
village  across  the  barranca,  where  much  of  the 
Cuernavaca  pottery  was  made.  It  consisted  of 
one  long  street  of  adobe  houses,  each  with  its 
enclosing  adobe  or  stone  wall  and  grove  of  trees 
and  bushes,  so  that  it  was  all  very  countrified  and 
charming.  On  either  side  the  road  was  a  trench 
full  of  running  water,  and  in  this  the  villagers 
washed  their  dishes,  their  vegetables,  their  clothes 
and  themselves,  much  to  the  surprise  and  disgust 
of  the  children.  To  be  sure,  they  did  not  dip  the 
dishes  in  the  stream,  but  they  got  from  it  the 
bowlful  of  water  in  which  their  dishes  were  after- 

20f) 


206  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

ward  washed,  so  that  it  amounted  to  the  same 
thing.  The  family  once  saw  a  little  girl  getting  a 
bath,  sitting  out  in  the  sun  on  an  inverted  jar,  while 
her  mother  poured  basinfuls  of  water  over  her  and 
rubbed  her  with  her  hands.  And  they  often  saw 
the  women  washing  their  long,  black  hair  at  the 
stream,  afterward  going  about  with  it  hanging 
down  the  back  until  it  dried.  Some  of  them  even 
came  into  the  village  in  this  fashion. 

One  day  as  they  strolled  along  through  the  vil- 
lage, they  began  to  notice  how  many  plants  and 
trees  of  a  useful  kind  grew  in  these  tropical  gar- 
dens. There  were  figs,  oranges,  coffee,  bananas, 
limes,  cocoa-palms,  aguacates,  prunes,  pome- 
granates, mangoes,  and  the  mamay',  besides 
various  fruit-bearing  trees  they  did  not 
know. 

"You  could  get  a  living  right  here  in  this 
street,"  said  Ray,  "because  something  or  other 
would  be  ripe  right  through  the  year. ' ' 

"You  wouldn't  have  any  meat,  though,"  ob- 
jected Roy. 

"No,  but  some  people  don't  eat  meat,"  said 
Ray. 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE  207 

''Well,  I  wouldn't  eat  those  funny  strings  they 
have  in  the  market  that  they  call  meat,"  said  Roy, 
positively. 

One  day  they  visited  the  village  when  the  pot- 
tery making  was  going  on,  and  saw  some  of  the 
process.  A  man  was  mixing  some  earth  with 
water,  as  a  beginning,  to  get  it  of  the  proper  con- 
sistency for  kneading.  Mrs.  Stevens  asked  him 
if  he  got  the  earth  in  his  own  garden,  and  he  said 
no,  that  the  clay  for  pottery  came  from  the 
barranca. 

The  next  step  they  saw  at  another  place,  where 
a  woman  had  a  great  lump  of  mixed  clay  beside 
her,  from  which  she  was  taking  off  enough  to 
make  one  of  the  curved  platters  on  which  tortillas 
are  baked.  She  had  a  great,  round,  flat  stone  in 
front  of  her,  on  which  some  fine  sand  was  spread 
to  keep  the  clay  from  sticking  to  the  stone.  She 
knelt  before  this,  on  the  ground,  and  with  her 
hands  kneaded  the  mass  of  clay  into  a  flat  cake, 
patting  it  with  her  hands  and  sometimes  with  a 
stone,  and  as  it  grew  thinner,  whirling  it  around 
and  around  on  the  stone  with  her  hands  at  the 
edge  of  the  cake  to  make  and  keep  it  round.    She 


208  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

did  this  so  easily  and  naturally  that  it  did  not 
occur  to  the  children  until  afterward  that  it  must 
take  much  skill  from  long  practice  to  do  it  so  per- 
fectly. When  the  clay  was  thin  enough  and  round 
enough  to  suit  her,  the  woman  transferred  it  to  a 
larger  platter  which  had  been  made  originally  in 
the  same  way,  and  hollowed  it  out  with  the  large 
platter  for  a  pattern.  Then  it  was  set  in  a  bed  of 
hot  charcoal  to  bake.  A  bowl  was  shaped  by 
spreading  it  inside  or  outside  another  bowl, 
according  as  she  wished  it  smaller  or  larger.  For 
pitchers  and  jars,  a  potter's  wheel  turned  by  hand 
was  used. 

The  children  were  very  careful  not  to  get  in  the 
way  or  stand  too  near,  and  imitated  their  parents 
in  saying  "muchas  gracias  (moo'-chas  gra'-cee- 
as :  many  thanks)  "  for  the  permission  to  enter  the 
garden  and  look  on ;  so  that  the  woman,  while  not 
exactly  gracious,  was  polite  to  them.  Mrs.  Stevens 
said  afterward  that  she  was  probably  out  of  pa- 
tience with  tourists  in  general,  as  so  many  forget 
that  a  man's  house  is  his  castle  and  take  it  for 
granted  they  can  go  anywhere  without  an  invita- 
tion or  permission,  which  naturally  nobody  likes, 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE  209 

not  even  an  Indian.  Usually,  if  they  looked  into  a 
gateway  from  the  road,  they  saw  the  mother  at 
work  at  something  and  the  children  playing,  and 
were  greeted  with  a  whole  battery  of  smiles.  Once 
they  saw  three  or  four  tiny  children  sitting  about 
a  little  low  table  such  as  some  of  the  market  women 
had  in  their  stalls,  playing  with  the  broken  dishes 
that  were  some  day  to  figure  as  the  little  squares 
and  diamonds  in  Cuernavaca  pottery. 

Another  excursion  was  to  Tlaltenan'go  (pro- 
nounced as  spelled),  where  there  was  an  interest- 
ing old  church.  They  found  the  walls  covered 
with  votive  offerings  to  Our  Lady  of  Miracles, 
little  silver  legs  and  arms  and  hearts,  given  by 
people  who  believed  she  had  cured  their  lame 
limbs  and  diseased  organs.  There  were  also 
hung  on  the  walls  very  crude  pictures,  evidently 
painted  by  the  givers  or  some  local  artist,  show- 
ing the  dangers  from  which  they  had  been  rescued 
by  Our  Lady  of  Miracles.  There  were  men  falling 
from  horses  or  being  run  over  by  wagons,  women 
drowning  or  falling  through  bridges,  dying  per- 
sons who  had  evidently  been  cured  at  the  last 
moment.     The  twins  could  not  help  laughing  at 


210  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

the  curious  drawing  of  these  pictures,  some  of 
which  were  truly  ludicrous. 

As  they  came  out  of  the  church,  a  strong,  able- 
bodied  peon  came  by,  driving  a  small  donkey 
attached  to  one  of  the  high,  two-wheeled  carts 
which  were  now  so  familiar  to  them  all.  They 
were  watching  him  as  he  drove  down  the  road, 
sitting  with  slack  reins  and  looking  about  in  every 
direction,  when  they  saw  that  the  donkey  had 
suddenly  quickened  his  pace.  He  went  faster  and 
faster,  and  the  driver,  instead  of  trying  to  stop 
him,  when  the  cart  reached  the  top  of  a  small  hill, 
gave  a  jump  and  landed  in  a  heap  at  the  side  of 
the  road,  leaving  the  donkey  to  run  away  if  he 
wanted  to. 

"Why,  he  didn't  even  try  to  stop  him!"  ex- 
claimed Roy. 

"Perhaps  he  knew  it  was  of  no  use,"  said 
Ray;  "maybe  that  donkey  has  run  away 
before." 

"Well,  if  that's  the  case,  he  ought  to  have  been 
watching  him  and  prevented  it.  I  suppose  he'll 
go  and  paint  a  picture  of  his  narrow  escape  now, 
and  put  it  in  that  church,  and  give  some  money  to 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE  211 

Our  Lady  of  Miracles.     I'd  rather  do  my  own 
miracles." 

"I  should  certainly  hope  you  could  drive  better 
than  that  man,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  much  amused 
at  Roy's  indignation.  Roy  could  not  endure  a 
coward  or  one  who  called  for  help  before  he  had 
done  his  utmost  to  help  himself. 

A  third  excursion,  to  the  twins  the  most  inter- 
esting of  all,  was  a  long  walk  out  to  the  village 
where  Angelina,  the  flower-seller,  lived.  This  had 
more  than  one  street,  and  had  its  church  and  its 
elementary  school,  like  San  Anton  and  Tlalte- 
nango,  but  the  principal  street  was  much  like  that 
of  San  Anton.  It  was  late  in  the  afternoon,  and 
the  sky  was  full  of  beautiful  clouds,  which  they 
often  stopped  to  look  at  from  the  brow  of  a  hill, 
where  great  stretches  of  country  also  lay  spread 
out  before  them.  They  passed  one  hut  newly 
whitewashed  which  did  not  seem  to  be  occupied, 
and  peeping  into  the  garden  found  the  workmen 
all  gone  and  no  one  anywhere  about,  no  furnish- 
ings in  the  house,  and  the  garden  evidently  need- 
ing care,  as  the  flowers  and  vines  were  running 
wild.     They    picked   some   flowers,   honeysuckles 


212  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

and  roses,  which  grew  in  great  profusion,  and 
found  out  soon  afterward  that  the  occupants  of 
the  hut  had  had  typhus  fever,  and  that,  after  one 
death,  the  others  had  moved  out,  and  the  hut  was 
being  fumigated  and  renovated  by  the  village 
authorities. 

"Shall  we  throw  our  flowers  away?"  asked 
Ray,  holding  hers  away  from  her  at  arm's  length. 

"No,  I  hardly  think  that  necessary,"  said  her 
mother,  smiling;  "I  dare  say  we  come  nearer  than 
this,  every  day,  to  some  contagion  or  other  with- 
out knowing  it.  We  must  take  some  risks,  and 
it's  better  not  to  imagine  them  greater  than  they 


are." 


A  few  doors  farther  on  they  came  to  Angelina's 
hut.  It  was  in  such  a  thicket  of  flowering  bushes 
that  they  could  not  see  into  the  garden  at  all. 
She  caught  sight  of  them  and  came  to  invite 
them  in,  looking  prettier  than  ever  when  she 
smiled  her  welcome.  She  showed  them  her  hut, 
an  adobe  one  with  a  roof  that  looked  as  if  it  leaked, 
an  earthen  floor,  and  no  furniture  except  the 
straw  sleeping-mats.  Yes,  there  was  one  piece  of 
furniture — a    shallow   box,    suspended    from    the 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE  213 

roof  by  cords  attached  to  the  corners,  and  about  a 
half-foot  from  the  ground.  This  was  the  baby's 
cradle,  and  he  was  just  beginning  to  wake  and  cry 
as  they  looked  in;  but  a  little  brother,  about  five 
years  old,  ran  to  him  and  began  turning  the 
strings  in  such  a  way  as  to  swing  the  box  around, 
and  the  baby  went  off  to  sleep  again. 

A  few  steps  from  the  hut  they  found  the  kitchen, 
just  a  few  poles  set  up  in  the  ground,  supporting 
a  thatched  roof.  The  ground  was  hollowed  out 
beneath,  and  a  great  stone  bowl  set  in  the  hollow. 
This  was  filled  with  charcoal,  and  in  the  charcoal 
was  set  a  pottery  jar  in  which  the  supper  was 
cooking.  It  smelled  very  good,  and  so  evidently 
thought  the  kitten  and  the  young  dog  which  lay 
along  the  edge  of  the  bowl,  sniffing  in  all  that  they 
would  probably  get  of  the  supper — the  fragrance. 
An  older  dog  and  cat,  lying  farther  off,  seemed 
to  have  long  ago  learned  that  supper  was  not 
for  them  and  that  it  was  of  no  use  to  be 
expectant. 

Just  here,  Angelina's  husband  appeared,  carry- 
ing the  remaining  child,  a  little  girl  who  looked 
very  pale  and  languid.    He  asked  if  they  would 


214  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

not  like  to  see  the  roses,  and  they  answered  yes, 
indeed,  for  they  had  often  wondered  where  the 
masses  of  roses  came  from  that  Angelina  brought 
to  the  hotel.  So  they  followed  him  down  a  little 
path  among  the  bushes  and  presently  came  to  a 
half-acre  garden  of  nothing  but  rose  bushes,  many 
of  them  in  bloom.  It  was  a  beautiful  sight,  and 
Angelina  went  hither  and  thither,  snipping  off 
some  of  the  prettiest  for  her  guests  and  offering 
them  with  a  bright  smile  that  made  them  doubly 
acceptable.  Her  husband,  too,  seemed  very  hos- 
pitable. Mrs.  Stevens  said  they  must  certainly 
buy  roses  every  time  Angelina  came  to  the  hotel, 
to  help  along  the  little  household.  "Do  you 
suppose,"  she  said  to  her  husband,  as  they  came 
away,  ' '  that  they  own  this  land  ? ' ' 

"No,  indeed,"  he  replied;  "it  is  very  seldom 
that  a  countryman  owns  land.  He  probably  works 
it  on  shares  and  has  to  turn  in  a  part  of  all  he 
receives  to  his  landlord." 

"And  she  sells  her  roses  at  six  cents  a  dozen!" 
exclaimed  Mrs.  Stevens.  "I  don't  see  how  they 
can  afford  to  pay  rent  at  such  prices." 

"Some  of  the  peons  have  a  pretty  hard  time," 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE  215 

said  Mr.  Stevens.  "Their  lot  is  like  that  of  a 
slave's  in  some  respects,  fairly  comfortable  under 
a  good  landlord,  very  miserable  under  a  bad  one. 
I  have  heard  of  one  rich  proprietor,  for  instance, 
who  pays  his  sheep-herders  twenty-five  cents  a 
day.  If  a  sheep  dies  or  is  lost  or  stolen  from  the 
large  herd  given  in  charge  to  one  man,  that  man 
has  to  forfeit  two  dollars.  Wages  are  paid  in 
orders  on  certain  stores,  and  these  stores  charge 
the  highest  prices.  Very  soon  the  peon,  who  does 
not  know  the  value  of  money,  as  so  little  passes 
through  his  hands,  is  in  debt  (he  himself  often 
does  not  know  how  to  keep  his  accounts)  and  con- 
stantly going  in  deeper.  He  has  no  way  of  \  >ay ing, 
and  when  he  dies  his  contract  is  generally  such 
that  his  family  have  to  assume  the  debt,  thus 
keeping  the  whole  family  in  bondage." 

"Dear  me!"  said  Kay;  "can't  they  ever  get 
out?" 

"The  most  hopeful  thing  for  the  peon  is  the 
fact  that  the  government  now  gives  his  children 
an  education;  and  when  these  children  grow  up 
understanding  figures  and  business  transactions 
and  able  to  read  the  papers,  it  is  probable  that 


216  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

they  will  find  some  way  out  of  this  unjust  system, 
though  it  may  be  a  slow  process." 

"They  say  the  peons  are  lazy,"  said  Roy. 

"Many  of  them  are.  They  will  work  until  they 
have  a  little  money  coming  to  them  and  then  stop 
work  until  that  is  spent  and  they  need  more.  It 
is  the  failing  of  people  who  live  in  the  tropics 
where  nature  provides  means  of  living  so  abund- 
antly." 

"I  can't  help  thinking  of  that  poor  dog  and 
kitten,"  said  Ray.  "Do  you  suppose  they 
ever    get    anything    to    eat?      They    looked    so 


anxious." 


' '  I  saw  a  dog  die  of  starvation  in  the  street,  the 
other  day,"  said  Roy. 

"Oh,  Roy!    How  did  you  know?" 

"I  was  looking  down  from  the  roof,  and  I  saw 
him  lying  in  the  street.  He  was  so  thin  that  I 
thought  at  first  it  was  a  long,  black  rag  lying  on 
the  ground.    Then  he  began  to  jerk " 

"Oh,  Roy!"  and  Ray  hid  her  eyes  as  if  she  too 
saw  the  pathetic  sight. 

"And  pretty  soon  he  lay  quite  still,  and  two 
guards  came  along  and  stooped  down  to  see  if  he 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE  217 

was  dead.  And  about  an  hour  after  I  looked  out 
the  window,  and  they  had  taken  him  away." 

"Where  do  you  suppose  they  took  him,  father?" 
asked  Ray. 

"Probably  out  to  the  hills  beyond  the  barranca, 
away  from  the  town,  where  the  buzzards  could  get 
at  him.  They  are  the  street  commissioners  and 
scavengers  in  Mexico,  and  they  do  their  work 
thoroughly  and  swiftly." 

"I  wonder  if  they  really  are  disgusting  birds  in 
appearance  or  if  we  just  think  they  look  so  be- 
cause we  know  how  they  get  their  living,"  said 
Mrs.  Stevens. 

That  night,  the  rain  poured  down  in  sheets  and 
awoke  the  children,  and  both  of  them  exclaimed  at 
once,  "Poor  Angelina !"  thinking  of  the  leaky  roof 
and  the  earthen  floor. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
A  LITTLE  HISTORY 

"Is  there  any  history  to  this  town!"  asked  Roy 
one  morning,  as  they  all  sat  on  the  roof  enjoying 
the  breeze  and  the  beautiful  views  on  every  side. 

' '  There  must  be, ' '  said  Ray.  ' '  Don 't  you  know, 
part  of  this  hotel  was  the  house  of  one  of  Cortez' 
generals,  and  they  call  that  house  over  there" — 
pointing  to  the  Municipal  building — "Cortez' 
palace." 

"Yes,  indeed,  the  place  is  as  old  as  Mexico  City, 
probably,"  said  Mr.  Stevens.  "Before  we  go  on 
our  expedition  to-day,  I  will  go  around  to  the 
library  and  see  what  I  can  find  in  the  way  of 
history." 

"Let  us  go  with  you,  father, — we  want  to  see 
the  library — perhaps  they  have  a  children's 
room,"  said  Ray. 

"Very   well,   but   don't   let   your   expectations 

218 


A  LITTLE  HISTORY  219 

rise  too  liigh,  for  you  may  be  disappointed.  I 
imagine  you'll  find  the  library  quite  a  different 
place  from  our  little  town  library  where  you  go  to 
get  your  story  books  and  feel  so  much  at  home.  I 
don't  suppose  there  is  a  children's  library  in  all 
Mexico. ' ' 

''Not  in  all  Mexico?"  repeated  Ray.  "Why, 
what  do  the  children  do?  How  do  they  get  along 
without  them  t ' ' 

"It  is  only  a  few  years  since  we  have  had  them 
ourselves,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  "and  we  managed 
to  live  pretty  comfortably  without  them,  though  I 
must  confess  I  think  them  a  tine  thing  when 
properly  managed."  He  was  putting  on  his  hat 
as  he  spoke,  and  the  children  got  theirs  as  they 
went  downstairs. 

The  library  was  on  the  second  floor,  over  the 
lobby  of  the  theatre,  and  it  was  open  from  half- 
past  eight  in  the  morning  to  noon.  There  were 
long  tables  joined  down  the  centre  of  the  room, 
and  before  each  chair  there  was  a  book-rest,  for 
most  of  the  books  were  rather  large  and  heavy. 
There  was  only  one  reader  there  when  they  went 
in,  and  he  was  a  boy  of  fourteen  or  fifteen  reading 


220  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

a  Spanish  translation  of  Jules  Verne's  "Twenty- 
Thousand  Leagues  under  the  Seas."  Mr.  Stevens 
saw  the  title  as  they  passed  him.  The  librarian 
was  sitting  at  her  table  sewing,  and  the  room  was 
very  still.  Mr.  Stevens  wrote  their  names  in  the 
visitors'  register,  and  then  they  began  to  look 
along  the  shelves  for  their  books.  The  only  thing 
Roy  and  Ray  could  find  in  English  that  they  could 
read  with  understanding  was  "Evangeline,"  and 
although  they  had  read  it  once,  they  decided  it 
would  be  better  to  read  it  again  than  to  read 
nothing.  So  they  pointed  it  out  to  the  librarian 
and  she  brought  it  to  the  table  where  they  had 
chosen  their  seats.  Mr.  Stevens,  meanwhile,  had 
found  Bancroft's  "History  of  Mexico,"  and  the 
librarian  climbed  up  a  short  ladder  and  got  the 
book  for  him.  It  proved  to  be  just  what  he 
wanted,  and  they  all  read  quietly — the  room  was 
very,  very  still — for  nearly  an  hour.  A  friend 
of  the  librarian's  came  and  brought  her  crochet- 
ing, and  the  women  chatted  in  an  undertone  over 
their  work. 

When   they  had   finally   left   this   very   silent 
library  and  were  tiptoeing  downstairs,  still  under 


A  LITTLE  HISTORY  221 

the  spell  of  quiet,  Roy  said,  "Did  you  find  out 
much  about  Cuernavaca,  father?" 

"Yes,  it  seems  to  have  been  rather  an  important 
place  at  the  time  of  the  Conquest,"  said  Mr. 
Stevens.  "It  was  an  Indian  town,  independent 
until  the  Aztecs  conquered  it  and  made  it  pay 
tribute.  When  Mexico  was  besieged,  the  Indians 
of  this  town  sent  help  to  the  Aztecs,  so  that  Cortez 
had  to  deal  with  Cuernavaca  also.  He  came  over 
here  with  some  of  his  men,  while  he  was  having 
his  ships  built  for  the  attack  on  Mexico,  but  found 
the  barranca,  or  ravine,  here,  a  serious  obstacle  to 
taking  the  town.  It  was  so  narrow  that  the  in- 
habitants could  fire  upon  the  Spaniards  from 
sheltered  places,  without  being  seen.  Cortez  sent 
his  scouts  up  and  down  the  barranca  to  find  a 
place  where  his  men  might  cross,  but  they  could 
find  nothing  until  one  of  his  Indian  allies  dis- 
covered a  natural  bridge  formed  by  the  branches 
of  two  large  trees  which  leaned  across  the  bar- 
ranca from  opposite  sides.  He  crossed  on  this 
and  was  followed  by  others,  Indians  and  Span- 
iards. Three  of  the  latter,  owing  to  their  armor, 
which  embarrassed  them  very  much,  fell  into  the 


222  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

barranca,  but  the  others  crossed  safely  and  ap- 
peared suddenly  among  the  astonished  inhabit- 
ants, who  had  never  thought  of  their  crossing  in 
this  way.  It  was  not  long  before  the  rest  of  the 
army  followed  by  a  bridge  which  the  first  comers 
had  repaired,  and  the  inhabitants  then  fled  to  the 
mountains.  They  returned  after  several  days, 
during  which  Cortez  had  burned  the  villages 
around  the  town  and  plundered  the  town  itself, 
and  as  they  were  ready  to  surrender,  Cortez 
ordered  the  fighting  to  cease,  and  the  town  came 
thus  under  the  rule  of  the  Spaniards.  When  the 
City  of  Mexico  was  conquered,  Cortez  returned  to 
Cuernavaca  for  a  time  and  built  the  palace  they 
call  Cortez'  palace,  now  the  capital  of  the  State  of 
Morelos." 

"Did  he  build  the  Cathedral  then,  too?"  asked 
Ray. 

' '  That  was  built  in  1529,  eight  years  afterward, 
and  was  a  Franciscan  convent  at  first — that  is 
why  there  are  several  buildings  in  the  group  in- 
stead of  simply  a  church.  That  clock  in  the  tower 
was  given  to  Cortez  by  Charles  V  of  Spain,  and 
used  to  be  in  the  Cathedral  of  Segovia  in  Spain." 


<  ( 


A  LITTLE  HISTORY  223 

They  say  Cortez  killed  his  wife  in  the  palace 
here.    Is  that  true,  father?"  asked  Roy. 

"It  is  hardly  likely.  He  did  kill  his  Cuban  wife, 
Catalina,  at  Coyoacan,  just  outside  of  Mexico,  and 
perhaps  that  gave  rise  to  this  story.  But  there  is 
later  history  connected  with  the  town,  for  Maxi- 
milian made  it  his  summer  home  and  had  a  pretty 
place  of  retirement  some  miles  out  in  the  country. 
He  was  very  fond  of  this  little  place,  and  we  may 
go  out  to  see  it  some  day.  Then  General  Morelos 
was  for  some  time  a  prisoner  in  the  palace,  during 
the  War  of  Independence,  which  is  perhaps  why 
the  state  was  named  for  him." 

"We  saw  two  portraits  of  him  in  one  of  the 
rooms,"  said  Roy.  "Mother  said  something  about 
the  Inquisition,  but  I  didn't  quite  understand." 

"She  probably  told  you  that  he  was  the  last 
victim  of  the  Inquisition.  Since  1529,  this  Spanish 
method  of  making  converts  and  punishing  people 
who  would  not  become  converts,  had  obtained  in 
Mexico,  and  in  all  the  Spanish  colonies.  The 
victims  were  always  executed,  generally  burned 
alive,  in  some  public  place,  and  scarcely  any  one 
arrested  escaped  sentence.    Once,  however,  a  Mex- 


224  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

ican  officer  was  summoned  before  the  Inquisition 
and  brought  all  his  regiment  with  him.  lie  told  his 
soldiers,  when  they  reached  the  building,  that  if  he 
did  not  reappear  in  twenty  minutes,  they  were  to 
come  and  find  him.  He  came  back,  as  you  would 
expect,  before  the  twenty  minutes  were  up." 

"It's  a  pity  they  had  not  all  had  regiments," 
said  Ray.  "Did  the  Inquisition  burn  many 
people?" 

"A  great  many.  The  first  great  burning — or 
auto  da  fe — took  place  in  1574,  when  twenty-one 
Lutherans  were  burned.  Sometimes  the  persecu- 
tors were  kind  enough  to  strangle  their  victims 
before  they  burned  them." 

"I  should  think  the  people  would  have  rushed 
in  and  stopped  such  awful  things, ' '  said  Roy. 

"On  the  contrary,  it  had  the  same  fascination 
for  them  that  a  bull-fight  has  nowadays.  They 
used  to  crowd  the  church  steps  and  climb  up  on 
the  arches  of  the  aqueduct  to  get  a  good  view. 
There  is  something  hardening  in  seeing  people  or 
animals  suffer,  so  that  the  more  one  sees  of  such 
things  the  less  pity  one  feels.  The  mildest  person 
can  make  himself  cruel  in  time  if  he  tries," 


A  LITTLE  HISTORY  225 

"  When  did  it  all  stop?"  asked  Roy. 

"It  lapsed  for  two  years,  1812-14,  during  which 
Spain  had  a  liberal  constitution,  but  was  resumed 
in  1815.  Morelos,  who  was  executed  in  that  year, 
was  the  last  heretic  who  came  before  the  Inquisi- 
tion. Spain  again  became  liberal,  and  in  1820  the 
Inquisition  was  finally  suppressed." 

"1820!"  exclaimed  Ray;  "why,  grandfather 
was  living  then — that  isn't  so  very  long  ago." 

"No,  it  was  only  a  year  before  Mexican  inde- 
pendence was  declared." 

"I  think  I'll  go  and  look  at  Morelos'  portrait 
again,"  said  Roy;  "I  didn't  know  he  had  such  an 
interesting  history." 

"I  remember  it,"  said  Ray;  "he's  very  homely, 
and  in  one  portrait  he's  got  a  bandage  around  his 
head." 

"I  don't  care  if  he  was  homely,"  said  Roy; 
"he  was  brave  and  he  died  for  his  country  and  for 
freedom  of  religion.  Probably  the  bandage  is  on 
account  of  a  wound  he  got  in  battle." 

When  they  got  home,  Mrs.  Stevens  asked, 
"Well,  did  you  find  your  children 's-room?" 

"Oh,  mother,  it's  just  as  different  from  our 


226  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

library  as  you  can  imagine!"  exclaimed  Ray. 
"Nearly  all  old  books  and  hardly  any  English 
ones,  and  only  one  person  reading  there,  and  the 
librarian  sewing,  and  it  was  so  still — so  still  I  was 
almost  afraid  to  cough." 

"So  there  is  another  point  in  which  American 
children  have  the  advantage,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens. 
' '  What  would  you  do  if  you  had  only  that  kind  of 
a  library  at  home,  and  no  Miss  Agnes  to  find  in- 
teresting books  for  you  and  help  you  to  look  up 
the  questions  in  your  school  work?" 

"I  don't  think  they  would  have  been  allowed  in 
this  library  at  all  if  they  had  not  been  with  a 
grown  person,"  said  Mr.  Stevens.  "However,  it 
is  not  so  very  many  years  since  most  of  our 
libraries  would  not  give  books  to  children,  but 
when  they  did  begin  to  do  it,  they  did  it  all  at 
once  and  very  generously.  Perhaps,  some  day, 
Mexico  will  awaken  to  the  importance  of  free  cir- 
culating libraries,  especially  for  the  children." 


CHAPTER  XIX 

MORE  EXCURSIONS 

The  children  had  been  clamoring  for  a  burro- 
ride,  and  so  one  day  Mr.  Stevens  engaged  four 
burros  and  a  boy  to  drive  them,  and  they  went  to 
see  an  old  hacienda  where  sugar-cane  was  the 
crop.  The  burros  were  brought  to  the  door  of  the 
hotel,  each  with  his  gay  saddle  with  a  little  railing 
as  a  support  to  the  back,  and  a  short  bit  of  rope 
as  a  bridle.  People  always  looked  so  comfortable 
riding  on  these  little  beasts,  which  went  so  easily 
and  slowly,  that  the  family  were  rather  eager  to 
try  it  than  otherwise,  though  Mrs.  Stevens  had 
her  misgivings.  Soon  they  were  in  their  saddles, 
and  with  the  donkey-boy  walking  behind  to  prod 
the  burros  with  his  stick  when  they  needed  it,  they 
ambled  down  a  steep,  stony  street  and  out  into  a 
country  road,  with  trees  and  bushes  and  huts 
bordering  it  at  first,  and  later  leading  up  and 
down  hill,  across  small  creeks,  and  through  almost 

227 


228  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

uninhabited  country.    The  motion  was  very  easy 
and  the  children  were  delighted,  and  they  thought 
their  father  looked  very  funny  with  his  long  legs 
almost  touching  the  ground  on  either  side  of  his 
burro.    They  all  expected  him  to  take  the  lead  in 
the  march,  the  path  being  often  very  narrow,  and 
the  burros  then  obliged  to  go  in  Indian  file;  but 
they  found  the  burros  settled  that  matter  among 
themselves.    It  proved  to  be  Roy's  burro  that  took 
the  lead  and  nearly  always  kept  it,  for  when  they 
came  to  a  narrow  place  the  other  animals  lingered 
until  Roy  and  his  donkey  had  gone  ahead.    They 
had  one  accident  that  might  have  been  serious  but 
fortunately  was  not.     Mrs.  Stevens'  saddle  was 
not  very  tight  or  set  far  enough  back,  and  as  they 
were  all  going  down  a  steep  hill,  her  burro  sud- 
denly decided  that  he  wanted  a  decaying  mango 
lying  in  the  road.    He  bent  his  head  to  get  it  and 
this,  with  the  natural  decline  of  the  road  and  the 
looseness  of  the  saddle,  sent  Mrs.  Stevens  over  his 
head  before   she   realised   what  was  happening. 
She  was  not  hurt,  as  she  fell  on  her  hands  and  in  a 
clayey  spot,  but  she  was  shaken  up  and  unnerved, 
and  refused  to  mount  again  for  some  time,  and 


MORE  EXCURSIONS  229 

Mr.  Stevens  dismounted  and  walked  with  her  for 
a  mile,  until  she  had  enough  courage  to  remount. 
The  burro,  meanwhile,  ate  all  the  mangoes  he 
wanted  and  enjoyed  his  freedom.  They  passed 
through  two  villages  before  they  came  to  the 
hacienda,  all  around  whose  gates  there  were 
thatched  huts  built  of  sugar-cane  stalks  such  as 
the  children  had  never  seen  before. 

"They  don't   seem  so  civilised  as   the  adobe 
huts,"  said  Ray,  "but  the  people  look  just  the 


same." 


It  was  Saturday  and  seemed  to  be  a  general 
holiday.  No  one  was  doing  any  work,  and  they 
heard  the  tinkling  of  a  guitar  and  the  sound  of 
singing  in  one  of  the  huts.  The  farmhouse  was 
a  long,  three-storied  building,  and  walls  extended 
out  from  both  ends  of  it  enclosing  two  courtyards. 
One  of  these  proved  to  be  a  sort  of  stable-yard  in 
part,  with  stalls  under  the  projecting  roof  on  two 
sides,  while  in  the  building  at  the  back  was  some 
heavy  machinery.  The  other  courtyard  looked  as 
if  it  had  been  built  in  the  middle  ages  as  part  of  a 
fortress.  The  farmhouse  walls  that  overlooked 
it    were    very,    very    thick,    with    portholes    for 


230  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

guns  and  cannon,  and  great  buttresses  made 
an  extra  support  for  the  walls. 

"They  must  have  thought  the  enemy  would 
penetrate  into  this  courtyard  by  the  walls  or  by 
capturing  the  gate,  so  they  were  ready  to  defend 
the  building  from  the  back,"  said  Mr.  Stevens. 

"What  kind  of  plantation  is  this?"  asked  Roy. 
"And  what  was  that  machinery  we  saw?" 

"They  raise  sugar-cane  here  and  make  aguardi- 
ente (ah-gwar-dy-en'-teh),"  answered  Mr.  Stevens. 

"Oh,  yes!"  said  Ray;  "that's  what  mother 
burns  in  her  alcohol  lamp." 

"Yes,  it  is  used  here  as  alcohol  and  wood  alcohol 
are  with  us,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  "and  it  is  nicer 
for  such  use  because  it  has  not  the  disagreeable 
odour  the  others  have.  The  machinery  we  saw 
probably  has  something  to  do  with  making  it. 
YTou  know  this  hacienda  was  once  owned  by  Cortez 
himself,  and  when  he  died  he  left  it  to  the  Hospital 
of  Jesus  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  and  the  income 
from  the  plantation  still  goes  to  support  the 
hospital." 

"I  remember  that  hospital,"  said  Roy.  "One 
day  father  and  I  were  going  along  the  street  and 


MORE  EXCURSIONS  231 

we  saw  an  old  building,  and  the  patio  looked  so 
interesting  that  I  peeped  in.  But  there  was 
nothing  and  nobody  to  be  seen  but  a  little  girl, 
and  she  wanted  to  know  what  I  wanted." 

"Why,  Roy,  how  did  you  know  what  she  said?" 
asked  Ray,  incredulously. 

"She  said,  'Que  quiere  listed,  senorito?'  "  said 
Roy,  rather  vexed.  "I've  been  here  long  enough 
to  know  what  that  means,  I  hope,  hearing  it  every 
day  in  the  markets  and  shops." 

"What  did  you  answer!"  asked  Mrs.  Stevens. 

"I  pointed  to  the  flowers  and  vines  and  said, 
'Bonitos,  muy  bonitos,'  and  she  smiled,  and  then  I 
came  away." 

"Very  good,"  said  his  mother.  "You  are  get- 
ting on,  and  I'm  glad  to  see  you  are  trying  to 
speak  a  little.  You  won't  feel  half  so  helpless  if 
you  stretch  your  wings  and  try  a  little  flight  every 
day.  Isn't  there  a  portrait  of  Cortez  in  that 
hospital?"  she  asked,  turning  to  Mr.  Stevens. 

"There  was.  It  was  painted  in  Cortez'  lifetime 
purposely  for  the  hospital,  and  is  said  to  be  the 
best  one  there  is." 

This   excursion  and   the   one   to   Maximilian's 


232  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

country  retreat  finished  the  family's  stay  in 
Cuernavaca.  This  latter  was  not  so  far  but  that 
they  could  walk  to  it,  which  was  a  great  relief  to 
Mrs.  Stevens,  though  the  children  would  have 
liked  to  go  on  burros.  They  passed  through  one 
or  two  villages,  and  turning  off  the  main  road 
found  themselves  confronting  a  rather  rickety, 
ornamental  fence  or  wall  of  wood,  opening  into  a 
courtyard  with  the  house  on  two  sides  of  it  and  a 
covered  passage  leading  into  a  garden  at  the  back. 
There  was  a  well  in  the  courtyard  over  which 
hung  a  mango-tree,  and  to  keep  the  mangoes 
from  falling  into  the  water,  which  looked  stagnant 
enough  already,  the  present  owner  had  covered  it 
with  a  sort  of  lattice-work. 

Young  chickens  and  goslings  were  everywhere, 
for  the  place  had  been  turned  into  a  chicken-ranch 
by  the  tenant,  who  was  an  American. 

"Isn't  that  too  bad!"  exclaimed  Ray;  "to  turn 
an  emperor's  summer-house  into  a  place  to  raise 
chickens ! ' ' 

"I  daresay  it  is  more  usefully  employed  than 
it  was  in  Maximilian's  time,"  said  her  father. 
"You  mustn't  be  too  romantic,  Ray." 


MORE  EXCURSIONS  233 

"Well,  I  can't  help  being  sorry  for  all  thai 
Maximilian  family,"  confessed  Ray.  "They  had 
such  a  little  time  to  be  happy  in.  Where  is  Maxi- 
milian buried,  father?" 

''In  Austria,  though  his  body  was  not  taken 
there  until  some  time  after  his  death.  That  he 
expected  to  be  taken  back  to  Austria  was  evident, 
for  he  asked  to  be  shot  in  the  body  so  that  his 
mother  might  look  upon  his  face  again.  They  had 
told  him  that  Carlotta  was  dead,  and  he  had  re- 
plied that  that  was  one  tie  less  to  bind  him  to 
earth." 

"Didn't  any  one  try  to  save  him?" 

"Yes,  his  wife  besought  both  Louis  Napoleon 
and  the  Pope  to  interfere,  but  in  vain.  Even  the 
United  States  tried  to  save  him  from  execution. 
A  noted  princess  rode  one  hundred  and  sixty 
miles  to  beg  President  Juarez  to  set  aside  Hie 
sentence,  but  the  Mexicans  thought  they  must 
make  an  example  of  him,  and  so  ended  the  last 
attempt  at  a  foreign  empire  in  Mexico." 

"How  would  President  Diaz  have  acted,  do  you 
suppose?"  asked  Roy. 

"I  cannot  tell;  but  when  the  Austrians  wished 


234  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

to  erect  a  chapel  on  the  hill  where  the  execution 
took  place,  he  allowed  it  to  be  done,  and  soon 
afterward  Mexico  and  Austria  formally  became 
friends  again. ' ' 

The  children  were  quite  still  and  thoughtful  for 
awhile,  as  they  walked  homeward.  Suddenly,  Ray 
asked,  "Did  you  see  that  man  that  just  passed 
us?" 

"Yes,"  said  Roy;  "why?" 

"Did  you  notice  that  little  green  spot  he  had 
right  here  on  his  forehead?"  said  Ray,  pointing 
to  her  temple. 

"Yes,  I've  seen  several  of  them  wearing  those 
green  plasters.    What  are  they  for,  father?" 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Mr.  Stevens;  "I  hadn't 
noticed  them." 

"We'll  ask  Mrs.  Knight,"  said  Ray,  and  when 
Mrs.  Knight  met  them  in  the  patio  as  they  came 
in,  it  was  the  first  thing  Ray  spoke  of. 

"I  was  going  to  call  your  attention  to  that," 
replied  Mrs.  Knight.  "It  is  a  way  the  peons  have 
of  curing  themselves  of  headache,  ague,  etc.  It 
is  just  a  piece  of  eucalyptus  leaf  from  the  eucalyp- 
tus trees  you  see  growing  about  in  the  villages. 


MORE   EXCURSIONS  235 

You  know  we  manufacture  eucalyptol  from  it  and 
take  it  as  a  medicine,  while  they  go  straight  to  the 
tree  and  pick  their  own  medicine." 

"How  convenient!"  said  Ray,  "and  so  much 
pleasanter  to  stick  the  medicine  on  you  like  a 
plaster  than  to  take  it  inside  of  you !" 

"But  not  so  pretty,"  said  her  father,  teasingly. 

"Why,  I  don't  think  it's  ugly  to  have  a  little 
piece  of  fresh,  green  leaf  on  your  face — it's  much 
prettier  than  black  court  plaster,  and  people  wear 
that  to  make  them  look  pretty." 

"There  is  a  nux  vomica  tree  in  the  town,"  said 
Mrs.  Knight;  "the  only  one  I  know  of  for  miles. 
You  ought  to  go  to  see  that."  And  they  did,  one 
day,  finding  it  a  large  tree  with  wide-spreading 
branches,  and  glossy,  dark  green  leaves,  some- 
thing like  a  large  poplar  leaf. 

Mrs.  Stevens,  who  was  a  homoeopath,  looked  at 
the  tree  almost  with  veneration. 

"You  could  not  only  get  your  living  from  these 
trees  about  here,  but  you  could  get  your  dying," 
said  Mr.  Stevens,  "for  the  nux  vomica  seed  is 
poison." 

"Your  dying  and  your  keep-from-dying,"  said 


236  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

Roy,  " because  if  you  take  it  right  it's  good  for 
you  and  not  poison." 

"And  you  can  get  the  other  kind  of  dyeing, 
too,  in  Mexico,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens,  "for  the  Mexi- 
cans make  their  own  dyes  to  colour  their  cloth 
with — at  least,  they  did  at  one  time.  Now  many 
of  their  serapes  and  rebozos  come  from  the  United 
States,  and  they  tell  me  the  sombreros  are  made 
in  New  -Jersey." 

"Oh,  dear!"  exclaimed  Ray,  "that  just  takes 
all  the  poetry  out  of  them,"  which  made  Roy  quite 
indignant.  He  said  she  ought  to  be  glad  to  see 
American  trade  growing  like  that. 

That  evening  was  their  last  in  Cuernavaca,  and 
when  the  little  orchestra  came  and  played  "La 
Golondrina"  in  the  patio,  they  all  said  it  made 
them  feel  homesick  already  for  Cuernavaca,  where 
they  had  begun  to  feel  so  much  at  home. 

"You  must  come  down  sometime  in  the  winter, 
and  perhaps  spend  a  Christmas  here,"  said  Mrs. 
Knight. 

"How  do  you  keep  the  patio  warm  in  winter?" 
asked  Ray. 

"Oh,  my  child,  the  patio  is  just  as  warm  then  as 


<*££  : 


A  Ci'kknavac  a   Boy 


MORE  EXCURSIONS  237 

it  is  now.  We  try  to  make  it  look  Like  Christmas 
by  our  decorations — you  know  the  poinsettia  is 
called  the  'Christmas  flower'  here,  and  we  always 
have  it  for  the  keynote  of  our  decorations." 

"We  are  just  beginning  to  use  it  in  the  States 
as  a  Christmas  plant,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens.  "It 
has  such  a  cheerful  red,  and  red  seems  to  be  the 
Christmas  colour,  for  some  reason.  The  patio 
must  look  very  bright  and  gay,  but  I  can't  quite 
imagine  a  warm,  summery  Christmas." 

"No  snow,  and  no  skating,  and  no  icicles  on  the 
trees  and  roofs,  and  no  bright  fires!"  exclaimed 
Ray.  "No,  I'd  rather  come  down  here  in  summer 
and  have  our  Christmas  at  home,  where  it's  like 
Christmas." 

"You  forget  that  the  first  Christmas  was  in  a 
country  where  they  seldom  have  snow  except  on 
the  tops  of  the  mountains,  and  where  the  mercury 
never  falls  below  twenty-eight  degrees,"  said  Mr. 
Stevens. 

"Then  our  Christmas  is  not  the  real  Christ- 
mas?" said  Ray,  much  astonished. 

"It  is  not  like  the  original  Christmas,  if  that  is 
what  you  mean." 


238  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

"Well,  well!"  was  all  Ray  could  say.  She 
had  supposed  that  the  way  things  were  in  the 
United  States  was,  generally  speaking,  the  proper 
way. 

"Travel  and  learn!"  said  Roy,  teasingly,  but 
he  too  was  a  little  surprised. 


CHAPTER  XX 

SOUTHWARD 

In  order  to  get  anywhere  else  except  to  the 
"hot  country"  in  the  State  of  Guerrero,  the 
Stevenses  had  to  go  back  to  the  City  of  Mexico 
and  start  out  again.  They  spent  one  evening  at 
their  hotel  in  the  Capital  going  over  maps  and 
time-tables,  to  see  what  could  best  be  done  in  the 
time  they  had,  and  finally  decided  to  spend  a  day 
or  two  at  Puebla,  going  from  there  out  to  Tlaxcala 
and  Cholula,  then  down  to  Oaxaca  and  Mitla, 
back  to  Tehuacan,  to  Esperanza  by  tram, 
thence  to  Orizaba  for  a  day  and  night,  and 
thence  back  to  the  City  of  Mexico.  If  they  had 
good  weather  and  no  delays  on  the  road,  this  could 
be  done  in  eight  days,  but  in  order  to  feel  less 
cramped  for  time,  they  thought  they  would  not  try 
to  be  back  before  the  eleventh  day. 

They  found  it  very  little  trouble  to  make  travel- 
ling plans  in  Mexico,  for,  in  general,  there  was  but 

239 


240  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

one  train  a  day  that  would  take  them  where  they 
wanted  to  go.    As  there  was  nothing  remarkable 
in  the  way  of  scenery  between  Mexico  and  Puebla, 
they  decided  to  take  that  short  trip  in  the  night. 
As  the  sleeper  was  left  behind  at  Apizaco  in  the 
night  and  picked  np  by  an  early  morning  train, 
they  found  to  their  surprise  that  they  had  slept 
very  quietly  on  a  side-track  most  of  the  night.    It 
was  still  very  early  when  they  reached  Puebla  and 
drove  to  a  hotel  kept  by  an  elderly  Swiss  with  a 
long,  white  beard.    He  spoke  English  and  made 
them  comfortable  in  two  sunny  rooms  and  gave 
them  a  good  breakfast,  after  which  they  set  out 
to  see  Puebla.     They  found  it  a  city  of  rather 
handsome     dwellings     and     shops,     particularly 
around  the  Plaza.    The  great  Cathedral  was  the 
first  place  they  visited,  and  here  they  found  the 
immense  columns  of  the  interior  draped  in  crim- 
son velvet  during  a  nine-days '  celebration  of  some 
saint.    Service  was  going  on,  and  the  children  saw 
for  the  first  time  a  wheel  of  bells  used  in  the  Mass. 
There  was  one  on  each  side  the  chancel,  a  wheel 
about  two  feet  in  diameter  suspended  at  a  height 
of  nine  or  ten  feet,  and  to    the  edge  were  im- 


SOUTHWARD  241 

movably  attached  small  bells,  which  could  ring 
only  when  the  wheel  was  turned.  At  certain 
points  in  the  service  two  of  the  acolytes,  or  serv- 
ing boys,  went  to  these  wheels,  turned  them  by  a 
rope,  and  produced  a  very  disagreeable  jangling 
from  the  bells.  "I'll  bet  those  boys  like  to  do 
that,"  said  Ray;  "boys  always  like  to  make  a 
noise,"  and  indeed  the  acolytes  did  look  as  if  they 
enjoyed  it.  Mr.  Stevens  said  the  interior  of  this 
Cathedral  was  considered  the  finest  in  Mexico, 
and  the  children  thought  probably  it  was — it  cer- 
tainly looked  very  large  and  rich — but  they  did 
not  care  much  about  cathedrals,  and  were  glad 
when  their  father  and  mother  turned  toward  the 
market.  This  was  quite  differently  arranged 
from  that  in  Cuernavaca.  There  were  long  rows 
of  stalls,  all  under  cover,  and  certain  kinds  of 
articles  were  in  one  row  and  others  in  another, 
and  there  was  no  surrounding  building.  It  was 
hard  to  get  the  children  past  the  stalls  where  the 
native  pottery  was  sold,  from  the  largest  platters 
and  jars  to  the  tiniest  toy  dishes.  Ray  just  had 
to  have  some  of  these  last,  but  she  had  to  carry 
them  in  her  hands  without  any  wrappings,  for  the 


242  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

market  people  seldom  have  a  bit  of  paper  to  wrap 
anything  in — customers  are  supposed  to  come 
with  bags  or  baskets.  There  were  beautiful,  flexi- 
ble baskets,  too,  and  Mrs.  Stevens  bought  several 
of  these — they  were  so  flexible  they  took  up  very 
little  room  in  one's  trunk — and  there  were  clay 
figures  representing  different  kinds  of  people,  the 
charcoal  venders,  the  olla-carriers,  etc.,  and  carv- 
ings in  onyx,  a  rich  white  and  yellow  stone  that  is 
found  near  Puebla.  In  one  of  the  shops  they 
found  many  things  made  of  it,  but  the  thing  that 
pleased  and  amused  the  children  most  was  two 
fried  eggs  of  papier  mache,  lying  on  a  platter. 
They  looked  real  enough  to  eat,  "Only  they  would 
be  cold  by  this  time,"  said  Roy. 

"Is  this  a  historic  place?"  he  asked. 

"Every  place  in  Mexico  has  more  or  less  his- 
tory," said  his  father.  "Puebla  as  a  city  was 
founded  in  1532  by  the  Spaniards,  so  it  is  not  an  old 
Indian  city,  like  many  of  the  others.  The  story 
goes  that  one  of  the  Spanish  friars  who  came  over 
at  the  time  of  the  Conquest  was  looking  for  a  place 
to  build  a  city  somewhere  between  the  coast  and 
the  City  of  Mexico,  and  one  night  he  had  a  dream. 


SOUTHWARD  243 

He  saw  a  beautiful  landscape,  marked  with  vol- 
canoes, small  hills,  and  two  rivers,  and  two  angels 
came  with  a  rod  and  chain  and  began  to  lay  out 
the  streets  and  squares  of  a  town.  On  awakening, 
he  resolved  to  take  this  dream  as  an  omen,  and  he 
went  about  looking  for  a  landscape  to  correspond 
with  the  one  in  his  dream.  He  found  it  here,  at 
last,  and  named  his  town  Puebla  de  los  Angeles 
(Ang'-hel-es),  the  City  of  the  Angels;  now  it  is 
shortened  to  Puebla,  or  the  City." 

"I  wonder  if  you  have  noticed  how  much  tiles 
are  used  here  in  the  buildings,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens 
to  the  twins.  They  had  not,  but  they  began  to 
look  about  them  and,  to  be  sure,  it  was  the  most 
thoroughly  tiled  city  they  had  seen.  The  domes 
of  the  churches  were  of  glossy  tiles,  yellow  and 
blue  and  white  and  (lowered,  and  the  floors  were 
tiled,  and  tiles  were  set  into  the  walls  of  private 
houses,  while  one  house  had  its  whole  front  made 
of  them. 

"There  is  nothing  as  beautiful,  though,  as  the 
Jockey  Club  building  in  the  City  of  Mexico,"  said 
Mrs.  Stevens,  and  the  children  agreed  with  her. 
That  had  been  covered  with  blue  and  white  tiles 


244  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

from  India,  brought  over  early  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  each  costing,  it  was  said,  its  actual  weight 
in  silver. 

"The  name  of  Puebla  was  changed  to  Puebla 
Zaragoza  in  1862,  after  the  battle  of  the  5th  of 
May  or  Cinco  de  Mayo,  fought  just  outside  the  city. 
In  this  battle  General  Zaragoza  drove  back  the 
French  invaders  and  won  a  victory  over  a  force 
three  times  the  size  of  his  own." 

"Did  we  ever  have  anything  to  do  with  the 
place!"  asked  Roy. 

"Yes,  General  Winfield  Scott  occupied  it  with 
his  soldiers  in  1847,  during  the  Mexican  War. 
Diaz  took  it  back  from  the  French  in  1867,  after 
they  had  held  it  four  years,  and  since  then  it  has 
been  left  in  peace.  It  was  here  that  Diaz  was  im- 
prisoned in  the  buildings  of  the  State  College, 
when  a  young  soldier,  and  escaped  by  scaling  the 
wall." 

"Well,  father,"  said  Roy,  who  was  not  satisfied 
with  legends,  but  wanted  facts,  "of  course  that 
isn't  a  true  story  of  the  way  the  city  was  founded, 
and  what  is  the  true  one?" 

"They  say  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  Tlaxcala 


SOUTHWARD  245 

came  over,  about  fifty  families,  from  their  own 
town  and  started  this  one.  Tlaxcala  was  then  a 
city  of  three  hundred  thousand  people  and  Puebla 
was  a  mere  village.  Now,  Tlaxcala  has  four  thou- 
sand people  and  Puebla  has  nearly  a  hundred 
thousand.  We  are  going  over  to  Tlaxcala  this 
afternoon,  as  there  are  one  or  two  things  there  we 
ought  to  see." 

"Oh,  good!"  exclaimed  Ray.  "That  is  an  old, 
old  town,  isn't  it?  You  can  tell  by  the  name,  I 
believe.  The  towns  that  begin  with  Tl  or  have  a 
tl  in  the  name  are  always  old  Indian  towns,  aren't 
they?" 

"Quite  right,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens;  "I'm  glad 
you  are  so  observing.  Yes,  we  shall  see  some  of 
the  most  interesting  things  there  that  we  have 
seen  anywhere." 

And  in  the  afternoon  they  took  the  train  to  the 
little  station  of  Santa  Ana  and  from  there  a  mule- 
car  across  the  valley,  a  six-miles  ride  through 
fields  and  picturesque  villages,  with  the  snow- 
peaked  mountains  visible  in  the  distance. 

The  tram  stopped  in  the  public  square  of  the 
town,   surrounded   on   two   sides   by   shops   with 


246  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

covered  sidewalks,  the  roofs  supported  by  pillars, 
on  the  third  side  by  the  Municipal  buildings,  and 
on  the  fourth  by  the  elegant  ruins  of  what  seemed 
to  have  been  a  bishop's  palace,  judging  from  the 
symbols  of  the  bishopric,  the  mitre,  staff  and  keys, 
etc.,  that  decorated  the  front  of  beautiful  yellow 
tiles. 

In  the  Municipal  buildings  and  in  the  Museum 
they  saw  several  things  connected  with  the  Con- 
quest, copies  of  the  portraits  of  the  Indian  chiefs 
of  Tlaxcala  who  became  allies  and  friends  of 
Cortez  and  were  baptised  as  Christians  in  1520, 
a  year  before  the  Spaniards  entered  the  Capital; 
idols  belonging  to  the  old  Indian  days  and  old 
pottery,  found  in  tilling  the  fields ;  and  there  was 
a  banner  which  Cortez  had  given  to  the  Indians, 
and  the  silk  robes  the  chiefs  wore  when  they  were 
baptised,  and  the  splendid  embroidered  vestments 
the  priests  wore  on  the  same  occasion. 

"Just  think!"  said  Ray,  in  a  tone  of  awe, 
"those  clothes  are  nearly  four  hundred  years  old 
and  look  as  nice  as  that!  They  won't  be  able  to 
see  much  of  our  clothes  four  hundred  years  from 
now,  will  they?" 


SOUTHWARD  247 

"Not  of  yours  and  Hoy's,  certainly,"  said  Mrs. 
Stevens,  smiling;  "it  is  all  I  can  do  to  make  them 
last  from  one  season  to  another." 

From  the  Municipal  buildings,  the  party  wan- 
dered through  the  little  market-place,  now  almost 
empty,  for  it  was  afternoon  and  not  a  market-day 
— noticing  that  this  market  was  of  still  another 
arrangement.  Here  there  were  separate  plat- 
forms, each  with  its  roof,  and  each  devoted  to  a 
special  kind  of  merchandise.  For  instance,  one 
house  was  marked  "Rebozos,"  and  one  "Fruta," 
etc. 

"They  say,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens,  "that  the 
people  here  speak  Aztec  as  much  as,  or  even  more 
than,  they  do  Spanish,  and  that  there  are  some 
who  do  not  speak  Spanish  at  all. ' ' 

"Why,  I  didn't  know  anybody  spoke  Aztec  any 
more!"  exclaimed  Roy,  astonished. 

"Yes,  it  is  still  a  living  language,  as  we  say.  I 
think  there  are  books  in  it,  or  at  least  grammars 
of  Aztec." 

"Now,  where  are  we  going!"  asked  Ray,  as 
they  began  to  climb  a  street  that  went  uphill, 
paved  with  cobbles  and  bordered  by  tall  trees. 


248  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

"We  are  going  to  see  the  oldest  church  in  the 
whole  western  hemisphere,"  said  Mr.  Stevens; 
"one  that  was  begun  in  1521,  the  year  of  the  Con- 
quest, and  in  which  Christianity  was  first  preached 
in  the  New  World." 

"And  that  was  only  three  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ago,  or  so,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens.  "Think 
what  changes  have  happened  in  an  even  shorter 
period,  in  the  United  States— the  savages  almost 
exterminated,  the  wild  beasts  killed  off  from  Maine 
to  Texas  and  Washington  to  Florida,  towns  and 
cities  almost  everywhere,  schools  and  churches 
and  libraries." 

"And  the  white  people  crowding  in  so  that  they 
quarrel  with  the  Indian  over  what  little  land  he 
has  left,"  said  Mr.  Stevens.  "The  changes  are 
far  fewer  here,  for  the  Indians,  instead  of  being 
exterminated,  were  converted,  outwardly,  at  least, 
and  adopted  many  of  the  customs  of  the  con- 
queror, giving  him  in  turn  some  of  their  own. 
Progress  has  been  much  slower  and  its  traces  are 
much  more  easily  seen,  since  there  is  so  little  tear- 
ing down  of  old  things  to  make  room  for  the  new, 
as  with  us." 


SOUTHWARD  249 

"Yes,  but  we  never  had  dry  land  made  out  of 
water  or  a  navy-yard  up  in  the  mountains  or  an 
island  turned  into  a  rock  in  a  park,  like  Chapulte- 
pec,"  said  Roy. 

"No,  there  you  are  right.  Still,  there  is  the 
opposite  going  on  in  our  country,  where  we  are 
turning  our  dry  deserts  into  moist  farming  land." 

By  this  time  they  had  reached  the  arched  gate- 
way in  the  wall  at  the  top  of  the  hill,  and  found 
themselves  in  front  of  the  little  old  church  of  San 
Francisco.  At  one  end  of  the  wall  was  the  bell- 
tower  which  overlooked  a  wide  expanse  of  country 
as  well  as  the  local  bull-ring. 

"There  is  the  barracks, — it  used  to  be  a  con- 
vent," said  Mr.  Stevens,  pointing  to  the  building 
on  the  left,  where  several  soldiers  were  standing. 

"I  suppose  the  soldiers  can  go  across  the  gate- 
way to  the  bell-tower  and  see  the  bull-fights  with- 
out paying,"  said  Ray. 

' '  They  may,  if  they  want  to, ' '  said  Roy ;  ' '  once 
is  enough  for  me.  All  the  free  passes  in  the  world 
wouldn't  make  me  go  again." 

Inside  the  church  they  found  the  old  pulpit 
with  a  tablet,  stating  that   the  gospel  had  been 


2-50  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

preached  from  it  for  the  first  time  in  the  New 
World,  and  there  was  also  the  great  font  where 
had  been  baptised  the  chiefs  whose  portraits  they 
had  seen.  The  children,  wandering  about,  started 
back  as  they  were  about  to  enter  a  small  chapel, 
thinking  they  had  seen  a  dead  body ;  but  it  proved 
to  be  a  wooden  image  of  Jesus,  lying  on  a  bed 
with  pillows  and  coverlets,  red  spots  to  represent 
blood  streaming  from  His  brow  and  the  wounds  in 
the  hands.  Two  women  were  kneeling  at  the 
head  and  foot,  where  small  candles  were  burning 
faintly,  and  while  the  twins  stood  looking  in, 
another  woman  came  softly  in  with  bunches  of 
yellow  marigolds  from  her  little  garden  in  the 
country,  which  she  began  to  place  reverently  all 
about  the  edge  of  the  bed.  When  this  was  done, 
she  went  around  it,  kneeling  and  kissing  the  hands 
and  feet  of  the  figure  most  fervently  and  affection- 
ately. 

The  two  children  were  differently  affected. 
Roy  wondered  how  any  one  could  have  any  belief 
in  an  ugly,  wooden  image,  and  Ray  could  not  help 
being  impressed  by  the  faith  and  love  of  the  poor 
women  to  whom  it  seemed  to  mean  so  much. 


SOUTHWARD  251 

On  their  way  farther  up  the  hill  to  see  another 
church,  the  family  passed  two  curious  things, 
looking  like  big  barrels,  in  the  middle  of  the 
roadway. 

''What  on  earth  are  they?"  asked  Roy. 

Nobody  knew  or  could  even  guess,  so  that  Mr. 
Stevens  had  to  look  it  up  in  his  guide-book  and 
found  that  they  were  a  sort  of  corn-crib,  to  keep 
rats  from  carrying  off  the  owner's  corn.  They 
were  covered  at  the  top  loosely  with  a  bit  of  wood 
and  a  thatch  to  keep  the  rain  off,  but  had  no  real 
protection  against  thieves,  showing  that  the  neigh- 
bours and  the  villagers  must  be  honest  people. 

"I  have  always  heard  Mexicans  were  thieves," 
said  Mrs.  Stevens,  "and  here  we  have  been  stop- 
ping in  hotels  for  a  month  and  leaving  everything 
lying  about  except  money  and  jewels,  which  we 
would  not  leave  about  anywhere,  even  at  home, 
and  nothing  has  been  taken  or  even  disturbed." 

"They  cheat  you  when  they  sell  things,"  said 
Roy. 

"No,  they  don't  cheat  you,"  said  Ray,  stoutly; 
"they  ask  you  higher  prices  than  they  ask  one 
another  because  you've  got  more  money  and  don't 


252  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

mind  spending  it;  but  you  don't  have  to  pay  if 
you  don't  want  to — that  isn't  cheating." 

"Besides,  shopkeepers  do  that  everywhere 
when  they  are  dealing  with  Americans,  for  they 
think  all  Americans  have  money  and  nothing  to 
do  but  spend  it,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens. 

And  on  the  whole,  Roy  was  finally  convinced 
that  overcharging  was  not  cheating,  though  it 
might  not  be  right. 

When  they  reached  Santa  Ana  on  their  home- 
ward journey,  it  had  grown  almost  dark,  and  the 
little  station  was  very  dimly  lighted,  but  they 
could  see  the  ticket-office  and  get  their  tickets. 
The  station  platform  was  covered  with  country- 
people  who  had  come  to  sell  sweet  bread  and  cakes 
to  the  passengers  on  the  train  which  was  due. 
They  had  their  wares  in  large,  round,  deep 
baskets,  with  a  lantern  set  in  the  middle  so  that 
their  cakes  could  be  seen  and  so  that  they  could 
make  change,  and  they  squatted  on  the  floor  in  the 
dim  candlelight  with  their  serapes  and  rebozos 
drawn  up  around  their  necks,  for  the  air  was 
chill,  making  a  picturesque  sight.  The  children 
bought  some  of  the  cakes,  choosing  some  that  had 


SOUTHWARD  253 

designs  in  white  and  pink  sugar  on  the  top,  be- 
cause Roy  said  they  looked  like  Aztec  decorations, 
while  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stevens  found  the  brioches,  or 
sweet  bread,  very  good  indeed.  They  reached  the 
hotel  in  Puebla  in  time  to  get  a  nine-o'clock  sup- 
per, and  went  to  bed  very  well  satisfied  with  their 
day. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
THE  GREAT  PYRAMID 

The  next  morning  was  given  to  an  expedition 
to  the  Pyramid  of  Cholula.  They  took  the  tram 
for  the  eight-mile  ride  to  the  village  or  town  of 
Cholula,  finding  the  trip  very  delightful.  The 
road  ran  part  of  the  way  alongside  of  an  aque- 
duct— they  had  learned  to  know  aqueducts,  not 
only  by  their  arches  but  by  their  narrow  tops.  At 
first,  the  children  had  thought  they  were  bridges 
and  wondered  why  the  people  had  built  such 
narrow  ones,  often  apparently  dangerous  to  cross 
on.  Now,  they  thought  it  a  very  picturesque 
and  beautiful  way  to  bring  water  into  a  town  or 
city,  much  more  so  than  the  underground  pipes 
at  home. 

"We  don't  have  room  for  anything  in  our 
streets,"  sighed  Ray;  "there  are  so  many  people 
and  teams!" 

"We    do    have    some    aqueducts,"    said    Mr. 

254 


THE  GREAT  PYRAMID  255 

Stevens,  "but  you  haven't  happened  to  see  them. 
I  must  show  them  to  you  when  we  go  back." 

They  found  the  town  of  Cholula  about  the  size 
of  Tlaxcala,  and  the  guide-book  said  that  the 
market-place  was  still  called  by  its  Indian  name, 
"Tianquiz." 

"Is  this  place  older  even  than  Tlaxcala?"  asked 
Roy. 

"Nobody  knows.  It  must  be  a  very,  very  old 
place,  because  when  the  Spaniards  came  they 
found  Indians  here  who  could  not  tell  them  any- 
thing about  the  ancient  history  of  the  pyramid,  it 
had  been  erected  so  long  ago,  by  a  people  even 
they  did  not  know." 

"I  never  saw  so  many  churches  in  such  a 
little  place,"  said  Ray. 

"Yes,  there  are  thirty  or  more,  now,  and  in 
Cortez'  time  he  counted  four  hundred  towers, 
representing  nearly  four  hundred  temples.  So 
you  see  it  must  have  been  as  large  as  Tlaxcala, 
probably." 

"I  can't  get  used  to  calling  a  place  a  city  when 
it  just  has  huts,"  said  Roy;  "it  seems  to  me  it's 
the  kind  of  buildings  that  ought  to  make  a  city." 


256  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

''As  a  rule,  it's  the  number  of  people  that  en- 
titles a  place  to  the  name  of  city;  and  in  those 
days  they  had  something  besides  huts,  for  their 
temples  were  very  fine,"  said  Mr.  Stevens. 

''Well,  where's  the  pyramid?"  said  Roy. 
"Why  don't  we  come  to  it?" 

His  father  and  mother  smiled;  they  had  pur- 
posely refrained  from  saying  what  the  pyramid 
looked  like,  in  order  to  surprise  the  children. 

"Don't  you  see  it?"  asked  Mrs.  Stevens. 

"Nothing  that  looks  to  me  like  a  pyramid.  I 
thought  it  would  be  like  those  pyramids  in  Egypt, 
all  big,  square  rocks  that  you  had  to  be  dragged 
up  to  the  top  of,"  replied  Roy. 

"Here's  a  hill,"  said  Ray,  "would  you  call  that 
a  pyramid  ? ' ' 

"Yes,  that  hill  at  our  right  is  the  pyramid,  or, 
rather,  it  covers  the  pyramid.  Under  the  grass 
and  bushes  and  trees  are  layer  upon  layer  of  brick 
and  clay  and  limestone  up  to  one  hundred  and 
seventy-seven  feet  in  height.  At  the  base,  this 
erection  is  twice  as  long  as  the  great  pyramid  of 
Cheops  in  Egypt,  and  the  whole  base  covers 
twenty  acres.    YTou  could  see  formerly  that  it  was 


THE  GREAT  PYRAMID  257 

built  in  terraces,  something  like  those  of  Egypt, 
but  now  the  earth  and  vegetation  have  covered 
these  up  and  made  the  surface  more  or  less 
even." 

"We  shan't  have  to  be  dragged  up,  Roy,"  said 
Mrs.  Stevens,  "for  around  on  the  west  side  there 
is  a  stone  stairway.  They  say  the  sides  of  the 
pyramid  faced  exactly  east,  west,  north,  and 
south. ' ' 

They  found  the  stairway  and  by  taking  the 
steps  slowly  they  arrived  at  the  top  without  any 
great  fatigue.  Ray  liked  it  much  better,  she  said, 
than  being  hauled  and  pulled  from  one  terrace  to 
another  as  Mark  Twain  said  travellers  were  got 
to  the  top  in  Egypt.  Many  of  her  ideas  of  Euro- 
pean travel  had  been  received  from  "Innocents 
Abroad,"  which  she  and  Roy  had  pored  over  since 
they  were  able  to  read. 

Once  at  the  top,  the  family  had  a  fine  view  of 
the  valley  surrounding  them,  the  mountains,  the 
temples,  and  of  other  villages.  They  saw  two 
other  pyramids,  not  so  large  nor  so  high.  One  of 
these  had  sides  almost  vertical  and  had  to  be 
scaled  by  climbing  a   ladder;  but  as  there  was 


258  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

nothing  to  be  seen  at  the  top,  even  the  children  did 
not  care  to  climb  it. 

"Now,  father,  tell  us  all  you  know  about  the 
pyramid,"  said  Ray,  as  they  seated  themselves, 
slightly  out  of  breath,  at  the  top  of  the 
steps. 

"No  one  knows  very  much,"  replied  Mr. 
Stevens.  "The  pyramid  was  here  when  the 
Aztecs  came,  and  the  people  they  found  here  told 
them  it  was  built  by  some  giants,  the  only  beings 
left  on  earth  after  a  great  deluge  had  drowned 
everybody  else.  These  giants  set  out  to  build  a 
tower  up  to  heaven,  as  a  refuge  in  case  of  another 
deluge,  but  the  gods  were  so  angry  at  such  pre- 
sumption that  they  sent  down  fire  from  heaven 
and  destroyed  the  giants." 

"Almost  like  the  Flood  and  the  Tower  of  Babel 
in  the  Old  Testament!"  exclaimed  Roy. 

"Yes,  these  old  Indians  seem  to  have  had 
several  legends  corresponding  to  the  stories  in  the 
Hebrew  records,"  said  Mr.  Stevens.  "It  makes 
them  even  more  mysterious  and  interesting. 
When  the  Spaniards  came,  a  great  temple  stood 
on  the  top  of  the  pyramid,  with  fires  that  threw  a 


THE  GREAT  PYRAMID  259 

light  over  the  country  around.  In  the  temple  was 
the  image  of  Quetzalcoat'l,  not  the  one  you  saw  in 
the  Museum,  however.  This  one  represented  him 
as  black,  with  a  great  mitre  on  life  head  and  fire 
issuing  from  it,  a  golden  collar,  turquoise  ear- 
rings, a  jewelled  sceptre  and  a  shield  with  paint- 
ings on  it,  to  symbolise  his  control  over  the  winds, 
for  he  was  the  god  of  the  air. ' ' 

"And  he  was  going  to  come  back  some  day  and 
rule  over  them,  and  when  they  saw  the  Spaniards 
they  thought  they  had  come  with  him,  wasn't  that 
what  you  told  us?"  asked  Ray. 

"Yes,  they  had  been  waiting  many  centuries, 
and  in  the  meantime  this  pyramid  and  its  temple 
had  been  visited  constantly  by  pilgrims  from 
hundreds  of  miles  around.'' 

"Well,  maybe  the  Spaniards  weren't  very  mild 
and  gentle,  like  What 's-his-name,  but  they  couldn't 
have  looked  half  as  fierce;  and  after  all,  they  did 
rule  over  the  Indians  and  get  them  civilised," 
said  Roy. 

"Yes,  good  has  come  of  the  Conquest,"  said  Mr. 
Stevens,  "for  even  the  Spaniards  were  not  so 
cruel  as  the  Indian  tribes  were  to  one  another; 


260  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

and  the  fact  that  after  only  three  hundred  years, 
the  people  could  throw  off  the  Spanish  yoke  and 
govern  themselves  and  in  less  than  fifty  years 
thereafter  count  for  something  among  the  civilised 
nations  of  the  earth,  shows  that  there  was  a  fine 
foundation,  and  that  the  mixture  of  Spanish  blood 
at  the  time  was  the  alloy  needed  to  make  the  native 
material  workable." 

The  children  didn't  understand  this  very  well, 
so  they  made  no  comment,  but  proposed  to  see 
which  could  get  down  the  steps  of  the  pyramid 
first;  and  as  their  mother  gave  the  word,  they 
started  and  were  soon  leaping  and  jumping  and 
running  toward  the  foot  of  the  steps. 

At  the  foot,  they  waited  for  their  parents,  and 
Ray  greeted  them  with  a  question.  "What  did 
the  Spaniards  do  when  they  found  the  temple  and 
the  image?"  she  asked. 

"They  tore  down  the  temple,  as  they  always 
did,  and  that  church  we  glanced  into  was  put  up 
in  its  stead.  What  became  of  the  image  I  don't 
know,  but  I  can  guess  what  became  of  its 
gold  collar  and  turquoise  earrings  and  jewelled 
sceptre,"  said  Mr.  Stevens. 


THE  GREAT  PYRAMID  261 

"Yes,  so  can  I,"  said  Ray;  "the  soldiers  took 
them." 

"What  time  do  we  start  to-morrow,  father,  for 
the  South?"  asked  Roy. 

"We    must    get    up    at    five    in    the    morn- 
ing 

"Oh,  dear!"  groaned  the  children. 

" Get  breakfast  at  the  station,  and  take  the 

train  at  fifteen  minutes  past  six." 

"And  when  shall  we  get  to  Oaxaca?" 

"About  half-past  six  in  the  evening,  just  in 
time  for  dinner." 

"We'll  certainly  have  to  go  to  bed  early,"  said 
Ray,  and  so  they  did.  At  five  the  next  morning 
the  twins  were  still  sleeping  soundly  when  a  soft 
voice  and  a  gentle  tap  on  the  door  from  the  por- 
tero  woke  them  from  their  dreams.  They  rubbed 
their  eyes  and  jumped  out  of  bed,  for  they  knew 
that  if  they  missed  this  train  it  would  only  mean 
waiting  until  the  next  morning  and  starting  at 
the  same  hour.  Their  mother  came  in  to  help 
them  finish  dressing,  and  went  all  around  the 
room  with  the  lighted  candle  to  make  sure  they 
were  not  leaving  anything. 


262  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

"What  a  nice  portero  that  was,"  she  said,  "to 
wake  us  so  gently  without  rousing  the  whole 
house !  In  one  of  our  hotels,  he  would  have  gone 
along  the  corridors  in  heavy  boots  or  shoes,  bang- 
ing on  the  doors  and  shouting  'Five  o'clock!  five 
o'clock!'  and  everybody  in  the  house  would  have 
been  scolding  the  departing  guests  for  being  the 
cause  of  all  the  noise." 

"Well,  five  o'clock  is  five  o'clock,  whether  he 
shouts  it  or  whispers  it,  so  far  as  I'm  concerned," 
said  Roy,  yawning;  "it's  quite  too  early  to  get 
up." 

"Be  sure  to  put  on  your  overcoat,  my  boy,  for 
it  will  be  chilly  until  the  sun  gets  well  up,"  said 
his  mother,  "and  Ray  must  wear  her  heavy 
jacket." 

When  they  came  creeping  noiselessly  down- 
stairs they  found  the  portero  sitting  on  the  hard 
wooden  bench  where  he  had  been  sleeping,  with  all 
their  hand-baggage  about  him.  The  cochero  (co- 
chay'-ro),  whom  they  had  engaged  the  evening  be- 
fore, stood  outside  with  his  carriage,  and  after 
giving  some  money  to  the  portero,  who  wished 
them  a  cordial  "good  journey,"  they  all  stowed 


THE  GREAT  PYRAMID  203 

themselves  in  the  coach  and  went  rattling  through 

the  cobblestone  streets,  past  the  barred  and 
shuttered  houses  and  the  silent  shops  and 
churches.  Nobody  was  stirring  except  the  street- 
cleaners,  who  were  busy  on  every  block  with  their 
brooms  and  brushes  and  square  pieces  of  matting 
for  dustpans.  They  all  had  their  serapes  close  up 
about  their  necks  and  shoulders,  for  it  was  indeed 
very  chilly  before  sunrise  even  in  August.  Here 
and  there  a  pale  street-lamp  burned,  but  there 
were  no  lights  in  the  houses  and  no  smoke  from 
the  chimneys.  The  latter  is  not  strange,  since 
there  were  no  chimneys,  most  Mexican  kitchens 
having  charcoal  ranges  and  letting  the  smoke 
escape  into  the  room  and  thence  out  of  the  doors 
and  windows.  This  is  why  the  kitchen  walls  gradu- 
ally become  dingier  and  dingier  until,  in  the 
poorer  houses,  where  they  are  almost  never 
cleaned,  they  are  quite  black. 

At  last  the  party  arrived  at  the  station  and  found 
quite  a  crowd  of  third-class  passengers  waiting, 
many  of  whom  looked  as  if  they  had  passed  the 
night  there  for  want  of  a   better  place  to  stay 
These  had  their  provisions  with  them  or  were  buy 


264  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

ing  them  at  little  shops  and  stands  near  by,  and 
eating  them,  as  usual,  seated  on  the  steps  or  the 
ground. 

Fortunately,  the  Stevens  family  could  do  better 
than  this,  and  they  soon  found  the  dining-room  of 
the  station,  where  a  Chinaman  called  "Charlie" 
waited  on  them  and  another  Chinaman  cooked 
what  they  ordered  in  his  little  kitchen,  visible 
from  where  they  sat.  He  gave  them  some  bacon 
and  eggs,  very  hot  toast,  and  fair  coffee,  and 
they  boarded  the  train  ready  and  eager  for  new 
sights  and  experiences. 


CHAPTER  XXII 
OAXACA 

"Look  hard  at  Popo,  children,"  said  Mrs. 
Stevens;  "you  won't  see  him  again  for  ten 
days." 

The  Smoking  Mountain  and  the  Sleeping 
Woman  were  very  white  and  beautiful  against  the 
western  sky  with  the  morning  sun  shining  on  them, 
and  the  children  for  awhile  looked  more  at  them 
than  at  the  scenery  they  were  passing  through. 
They  became  finally  very  much  interested  in  a 
Mexican  family  of  the  better  class,  father,  mother, 
and  four  children,  who  were  making  a  journey  to 
the  baths  of  Tehuacan,  in  the  same  car  with  them- 
selves. They  all  seemed  in  fine  spirits,  and  were 
very  demonstrative,  and  when,  occasionally,  the 
children  would  go  to  speak  to  the  father  or  mother, 
it  was  pretty  to  see  them  kiss  the  hand  of 
either  parent  impulsively  and  affectionately.   The 

265 


266  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

younger  boy  and  girl  thought  of  an  amusement 
which  Roy  and  Ray  afterward  tried  with  great 
success.  Opening  two  adjoining  car-windows,  the 
girl  at  the  forward  window  held  out  pieces  of 
paper  which  the  wind  caught  and  blew  back,  and 
the  boy  at  the  other  window  tried  to  catch  them 
as  they  flew  by.  It  was  quite  exciting  until  he 
grew  so  expert  that  he  caught  nearly  every  piece, 
when  he  ceased  to  be  interested  and  the  game  was 
given  up. 

The  children  felt  quite  sorry  to  see  the  family 
get  out  at  Tehuacan,  and  responded  regretfully  to 
the  smiling  good-bye  salutations  of  their  Mexican 
fellow-travellers.  But  they  consoled  themselves 
with  some  good  ham  sandwiches  which  "Charlie" 
had  put  up  for  them,  and  began  to  pay  more  atten- 
tion to  the  country  they  were  passing  through.  It 
was  very  beautiful,  especially  when  they  entered 
the  canons,  with  the  river  running  alongside  of 
them  and  the  mountains  towering  over  their 
heads ;  and  the  sides  of  the  mountains  were  dotted 
everywhere  with  the  curious  organ-cactus  which 
grew  here  to  be  a  great  tree.  Then  after  they 
began  to   descend   to   more   tropical   levels   they 


OAXACA  267 

passed  queer  thatched  huts  in  which  the  natives 
lived,  shaded  by  banana  trees,  and  villages  where 
the  people  and  animals  seemed  all  to  live  on  an 
equality  and  everybody  was  out  of  doors.  Though 
this  was  the  only  train  from  the  north  in  twenty- 
four  hours,  the  villagers  did  not  seem  to  take 
much  interest  in  it,  and  only  those  who  had  things 
to  sell  came  to  greet  it. 

Once,  as  they  ran  close  along  the  rocky  sides  of 
the  canon,  the  twins,  who  were  standing  on  the 
rear  platform,  saw  something  they  could  hardly 
believe  to  be  true.  They  came  running  into  the 
car,  each  wanting  to  be  first  with  the  story,  but 
as  Roy  had  been  first  to  see,  Ray  decided  he  ought 
to  be  allowed  to  make  the  report. 

"Father!  mother!"  he  cried;  "we  saw  people 
living  in  a  cave ! ' ' 

"Really?"  asked  Mrs.  Stevens. 

"Yes,  really,  a  man  and  a  woman,  and  a  young 
lady,  and  a  little  girl.  The  rock  was  hollowed  out 
and  made  a  roof  and  a  floor  and  it  was  about 
eight  or  ten  feet  below  the  tracks  and  we  could 
look  right  in." 

"Perhaps  they  were  just  stopping  there  to  eat 


268  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

and  were  going  somewhere  along  the  railroad,'' 
suggested  Mr.  Stevens. 

"No,  I'm  sure  they  were  living  there,"  said 
Ray. 

"We'll  watch  for  them,  coming  back,"  said 
Roy. 

"If  you  find  them  still  there  several  days  from 
now,  we  must  certainly  believe  they  live  there," 
said  Mrs.  Stevens. 

And  I  may  as  well  say  now  that  the  children 
did  see  them  on  their  return,  and  observed  their 
furniture,  which  consisted  of  grass  sleeping-mats, 
some  jars  and  bowls  on  a  ledge,  the  usual  little 
charcoal  stove  of  red  clay,  and  some  baskets. 
They  looked  clean  and  contented,  and  the  children 
were  fascinated  with  this  easy  way  of  housekeep- 
ing and  delighted  to  think  they  could  say  they  had 
seen  real  cave-dwellers. 

"What  do  they  do  when  it  rains,  father?"  asked 
Ray. 

"If  it  does  not  rain  toward  the  cave-opening, 
they  are  safe,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  "and  if  it  does, 
I  suppose  they  can  hang  up  some  of  their  mats  to 
shut  out  the  worst  of  it.    Such  a  cave  as  this  has 


OAXACA  269 

an  advantage  over  the  caves  of  northern  Mexico, 
for  most  of  those  are  dark  and  this  one  is  light 
and  well-ventilated." 

"I  wonder  if  they  would  like  to  live  as  we  do," 
said  Roy. 

"I  imagine  they  would  find  it  much  harder  than 
we  should  to  live  as  they  do,"  said  his  father. 

"It  must  be  a  cool,  shady  place  to  live  in  when 
it's  hot,"  said  Ray;  "just  like  our  cellar!" 

The  lowest  point  on  the  line  was  Quiotepec 
(Kee-o'-te-pec),  less  than  two  thousand  feet  above 
sea-level,  and  for  a  time  the  road  ran  through  a 
tropical  district  until  they  reached  Tomellin  (To- 
may'-in),  the  dinner  station.  The  children  were 
hungry,  but  could  hardly  get  past  the  fruit-sellers, 
a  group  of  women  seated  on  the  station  platform, 
each  with  her  basket  of  oranges,  bananas,  limes, 
aguacates,  and  other  fruit.  The  fruit  looked 
delicious  and  seemed  to  them  very  cheap,  but  their 
father  and  mother  said  it  would  be  still  cheaper 
just  before  the  train  started,  so  Roy  and  Ray 
passed  them  reluctantly  and  went  in  to  dinner. 
It  was  a  very  good  dinner,  indeed,  cooked  and 
served  by  Chinamen,  and  the  children  did  full 


270  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

justice  to  it.  It  seemed  strange  to  have  American 
pie  and  cake  away  down  there,  but  their  father 
reminded  them  that  the  road  was  under  English 
management  and  that  most  of  the  first-class  travel 
was  American  and  English.  When  it  was  over, 
the  twins  felt  very  little  need  of  fruit,  though  they 
bought  some  because  it  looked  so  pretty  in  the  big 
bowls  and  baskets  the  women  carried. 

The  scenerv  as  the  road  ascended  from  this 
point  was  very  grand,  and  when  they  reached 
Las  Sedas,  the  highest  point  of  the  line,  the 
children  could  not  help  being  impressed  with  the 
magnificent  view,  where  one  range  of  mountains 
stood  out  beyond  another,  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach,  "just  like  big  waves,"  Roy  said.  It  was 
dusk  when  the  train  at  last  reached  Oaxaca,  the 
end  of  the  route  for  the  time  being,  though  one  of 
these  days  the  road  may  be  completed  all  the  way 
to  Central  and  even  South  America. 

They  could  not  see  much  of  Oaxaca  at  that  time 
of  night,  but  they  were  so  tired  that  this  did  not 
make  much  difference.  They  sat  down  at  a  small 
table  in  the  patio  of  the  hotel,  which  was  roofed 
over  and  used  as  a  dining-room — and  the  children 


OAXACA  271 

could  hardly  keep  their  eyes  open  long  enough  to 
eat  their  soup.  They  were  glad  enough  to  be  put 
to  bed  in  their  little  ground-floor  rooms,  to  which 
a  pleasant  Mexican  maid  conducted  them  through 
several  patios  filled  with  flowering  plants,  and  to 
fall  asleep  to  the  sound  of  musically  falling  water 
from  the  fountain  in  the  nearest  patio.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Stevens,  having  seen  the  children  safely  in 
bed,  strolled  out  to  the  Plaza  to  hear  the  band 
play  and  see  the  natives  having  their  weekly 
promenade. 

In  the  morning  the  children  awoke  quite  ready 
for  anything,  and  the  first  thing  the  family  did 
after  breakfast  was  to  take  their  usual  walk  about 
the  streets,  to  look  at  the  churches,  the  markets, 
and  the  people  in  the  squares. 

The  town  seemed  different  in  some  ways  from 
the  others  they  had  seen,  though  the  houses  looked 
very  much  the  same.  Probably,  the  difference 
was  in  the  people,  who  were  not  so  handsome  and 
did  not  seem  so  good-natured  as  those  at  Cuer- 
navaca.  Ray  turned  to  her  mother  with  a  shiver 
and  a  look  of  disgust  as  she  pointed  to  a  youth 
cleaning  the  streets  with  his  hands,  sweeping  up 


272  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

the  dirt  with  his  fingers  into  his  braided  straw 
mat. 

"Yes,"  said  her  mother,  "that  seems  the  most 
hopeless  thing  about  these  people — they  do  not 
seem  to  know  cleanly  ways  of  doing  things,  even 
when  they  mean  to  be  clean." 

The  market,  as  usual,  was  the  most  interesting 
place.  Ray  was  so  delighted  with  a  parrot  that 
imitated  a  bad  cough  that  she  wanted  to  buy  it, 
but  Mrs.  Stevens  very  wisely  refused.  A  cough- 
ing parrot  might  be  quite  amusing  for  a  short 
time  but  would  soon  be  a  most  annoying  com- 
panion. It  seemed  as  if  there  were  everything 
imaginable  in  this  market,  but  the  sensation  of 
the  day  met  them  as  they  came  out  into  the 
street. 

"Just  look  at  that!"  exclaimed  Roy,  as  he 
caught  Ray's  arm  and  turned  her  around,  and 
Ray  was  equally  excited.  Indeed,  the  whole 
family  stood  and  stared;  for  they  saw  a  young 
man  carrying  a  round  bushel  basket  on  his  back 
and  in  the  basket  sat  a  wrinkled,  skinny,  withered 
old  woman,  with  her  head  and  arms  visible,  the 
latter  held  out  to  beg  for  alms, 


OAXACA  273 

''Well,  that  beats  the  Dutch!"  exclaimed  Mr. 
Stevens.    "That  is  a  new  way  of  begging." 

"Wouldn't  you  think  it  would  be  easier  to  leave 
her  at  home  and  work  for  a  living  than  to  carry 
that  load  about  all  day  long?"  said  Roy. 

"There  must  be  something  the  matter  with  her 
limbs,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens,  "or  she  never  could 
be  got  into  that  basket." 

"Oh,  I  don't  know,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  doubt- 
fully. "If  she  is  as  shrivelled  up  all  over  as  her 
arms  and  shoulders  are,  she  might  go  in  very  com- 
fortably, though  I  suppose  she  is  crippled  in 
some  way." 

"Do  you  suppose  it  is  his  mother?"  asked  Ray, 
in  an  awestruck  tone. 

"More  like  his  grandmother,  or  even  his  great- 
grandmother,"  said  Roy;  "she  looks  as  old  as  the 
hills." 

"Would  you  do  that  for  mother,  Roy?"  asked 
Ray,  with  her  eyes  fixed  pityingly  on  the  old 
woman,  to  whom  Mrs.  Stevens  had  given  a  few 
centavos. 

"No,  I  wouldn't,'"  said  Roy,  stoutly,  "unless" — 
he  hesitated — "unless  there  wasn't  any  other  way 


274  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

in  the  world  to  take  care  of  her.    I'd  work  till  I 
dropped,  before  I  'd  do  it. ' ' 

"Yes,  my  dear,  I  hope  you  would,"  said  Mrs. 
Stevens,  "for  even  if  you  were  willing  I  shouldn't 
be,  if  I  were  ever  so  helpless.  Besides,  /  might  be 
the  one  to  drop." 

"We  can't  say  he  does  it  because  he  is  lazy," 
said  Mr.  Stevens,  much  puzzled,  "because  this 
must  be  much  harder  than  working. ' ' 

"Perhaps  his  grandmother  likes  to  see  things 
and  this  is  the  only  way  she  can,"  suggested  Ray, 
at  which  idea  they  all  had  to  laugh.  In  the  mean- 
time, the  two  beggars  had  passed  on,  no  one  ex- 
cept the  Stevenses  having  paid  any  attention  to 
them,  so  that  they  must  have  been  a  common 
sight- 
There  was  a  very  magnificent  church  in  Oaxaca 
which  the  family  wished  to  visit,  but  by  mistake 
they  got  to  a  little  chapel  of  the  same  name.  The 
first  sight  that  greeted  them  as  they  entered  the 
bare,  whitewashed  little  place,  was  a  painted, 
wooden  image  of  Jesus  seated  near  the  door, 
wearing  the  crown  of  thorns,  with  drops  of  blood 
painted  on  His  face,  the  upper  part  of  the  body 


OAXACA  275 

wearing  a  cape  of  cloth,  while  the  lower  was 
dressed  in  a  pair  of  coarse  white  cotton  drawers, 
with  a  drawstring  at  the  waist  and  knees,  and  an 
edging  of  ruffles  and  lace.  "Poor  things!"  mur- 
mured Mrs.  Stevens,  "they  did  the  best  they 
could,"  while  the  children  did  not  know  whether 
to  laugh  or  be  shocked  at  this  queer  treatment  of 
a  sacred  image. 

The  real  church  of  Santo  Domingo  was  not  far 
away,  and  when  they  entered  it  they  were  not 
surprised  to  hear  that  thirteen  million  dollars  had 
been  spent  on  it.  The  roof  and  walls  of  the  im- 
mense building  were  covered  with  figures  carved 
in  relief,  full-length  portraits  of  saints  and  mar- 
tyrs, rich  tracery  with  fruits  and  flowers  inter- 
mingled, and  all  in  colours  and  gilt.  At  one  time 
the  figures  of  the  saints  had  been  literally  covered 
with  gold  leaf,  but  the  soldiers  quartered  near  by 
in  war  times  had  carried  off  much  of  this.  The 
church  was  not  really  beautiful,  but  it  was 
gorgeous,  and  the  most  expensive  church  building 
in  the  New  World. 

"I  suppose  Oaxaca  has  got  some  history,  too," 
said  Roy. 


276  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

"Yes,  indeed,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  "Cortez  sent 
bis  men  down  here  the  very  year  of  the  Conquest, 
1521,  and  having  a  fine  report  of  all  this  country 
got  the  King  of  Spain  to  give  him  a  grant  of  a 
large  estate,  containing  twenty  or  more  towns  and 
villages  and  more  than  twenty  thousand  people 
who  became  subject  to  him.  Oaxaca  was  one  of 
the  towns,  and  Cortez  took  the  title  of  Marquis  of 
Oaxaca,  after  which  he  was  generally  called  'the 
Marquis.'  " 

1 '  My !  wasn  't  he  a  thief ! ' '  exclaimed  Roy. 

"It  is  interesting  to  know  that  his  men  came 
down  here  pretty  nearly  by  the  same  road  we  took 
in  coming  down  by  rail,"  said  Mr.  Stevens.  "It 
was  an  old  town  when  they  found  it,  dating 
back  at  least  to  1485,  and  probably  much 
earlier." 

"Has  it  any  modern  history?"  asked  Roy. 

"Yes,  President  Juarez  was  born  here  in  1806 
and  President  Diaz  in  1830.  The  city  has  been 
called  'A  dwelling  place  of  heroes  in  the  garden 
of  the  gods,'  referring  to  its  great  men  and  its 
beautiful  surroundings.  All  through  the  war  for 
independence,  Oaxaca  was  the  scene  of  fighting 


OAXACA  277 

and  was  first  taken  for  the  patriots  by  General 
Morelos." 

"The  same  we  heard  of  in  Cuernavaea?" 

"Yes,  the  same.  Later,  it  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  royalists  and  again  of  the  patriots,  and  so  on 
until  the  war  ended  and  independence  was  won. 
In  the  war  against  Santa  Anna,  Diaz  defended 
Oaxaca  twice  against  the  usurper,  and  when, 
during  the  war  against  the  French,  Bazaine  be- 
sieged the  town,  Diaz  held  it  until  he  was  taken 
prisoner.  Only  a  year  later,  he  came  back  and 
recaptured  it." 

"He  lived  here  awhile,  didn't  he?"  asked  Mrs. 
Stevens. 

"Yes,  this  is  where  the  Mexicans  gave  him  the 
estate  called  La  Noria,  and  where  he  spent  the 
first  two  years  of  his  married  life." 

"I  just  love  to  know  I've  been  where  he  has 
lived!"  exclaimed  Ray,  enthusiastically. 

"You  are  a  little  hero-worshipper,"  said  her 
mother,  smiling. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
THE  ROAD  TO  MITLA 

A  delightful  surprise  awaited  the  children 
next  morning  at  breakfast.  They  came  into  the 
dining-room  or  dining-court,  as  they  thought  it 
ought  to  be  called,  and  saw  Mr.  Clarke  and  Harry 
seated  at  one  of  the  tables. 

"Why,"  exclaimed  every  one,  "we  didn't  know 
you  were  here ! ' ' 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Clarke,  "Harry  and  I  came 
down  day  before  yesterday,  I  on  business  and  he 
for  company.  The  business  is  over,  and  as  we 
have  both  seen  Oaxaca,  we  were  just  trying  to 
decide  what  we  should  do  to-day." 

"Why  not  go  to  Mitla  with  us?"  asked  all  the 
Stevenses  at  once. 

"That  is  an  idea,"  said  Mr.  Clarke;  "I  went 
there  once,  years  ago,  but  Harry  has  never  seen 
the  ruins.  How  shall  we  arrange  it?  One  coach 
will  not  hold  us  all." 

278 


o 

v. 


THE  ROAD  TO  MITLA  279 

"You  and  Mr.  Stevens  take  one  team,  father, 
and  let  me  go  with  the  others.  And  you  can  come 
behind  us  so  as  to  see  that  nothing  happens  to 
us,"  suggested  Harry.  The  children  began  to 
dance  about  joyfully,  when  they  found  this  plan 
was  to  be  carried  out,  and  it  was  arranged  that 
they  should  start  at  half-past  nine. 

"Is  there  really  any  danger?"  asked  Mrs. 
SI  evens,  a  little  frightened  at  the  thought  of 
driving  the  long  distance  without  a  man  in  the 
carriage  and  with  the  three  children  to  take 
care  of. 

"Not  the  least,  if  you  have  a  good  driver," 
replied  Mr.  Clarke.  "My  sister  went  to  Mitla 
quite  alone  from  Oaxaca,  when  she  was  here.  It 
so  happened  that  none  of  us  could  go  with  her  at 
the  time,  her  stay  was  limited,  and  she  was  deter- 
mined to  see  the  ruins.  I  felt  rather  anxious 
about  it,  but  I  wrote  the  landlord  here  asking  him 
to  pick  out  a  driver  who  was  a  good  man  as  well 
as  a  good  coachman,  and  he  took  pains  to  do  so. 
She  said  afterward  she  had  not  a  moment's  anxi- 
ety and  enjoyed  it  all  immensely.  She  spoke  very 
little  Spanish,  and  my  chief  fear  was  that  she 


280  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

might  fall  ill  or  that  there  might  be  some  accident 
and  she  might  not  be  able  to  communicate  with 
the  people  about  her.  Fortunately,  nothing  hap- 
pened, and  she  has  always  been  glad  of  the 
experience." 

"I  think  she  was  pretty  brave,"  said  Ray. 

"One  must  usually  risk  a  little  for  the  best 
things,"  said  Mr.  Clarke,  smiling  at  her.  "But 
you  needn't  be  at  all  afraid  to-day,  little  maid, 
for  we  shall  drive  along  close  behind  you." 

The  two  teams  drew  up  to  the  door  promptly  at 
half-past  nine,  and  the  outfit  amused  the  children 
very  much.  The  carriages  were  furnished  with 
very  few  springs,  the  wheels  were  very  far  apart, 
the  curtains  and  seats  very  dilapidated,  and  the 
drivers  much  in  need  of  being  "scrubbed  on  the 
stones"  as  Harry  said.  The  pole-animals  were 
mules  and  the  leaders  three  rather  thin  and 
shabby  horses.  The  driver  was  furnished  with 
an  exceedingly  long  whip  which  he  coiled  and 
flung  far  out  to  touch  the  near  leader,  with  such 
recklessness  that  it  was  dangerous  to  be  any- 
where about.  Indeed,  the  Indians  they  met  had 
frequently  to  take  to  the  bushes  to   save   their 


THE  ROAD  TO  MITLA  281 

heads  and  shoulders,  and  some  of  them  evidently 
did  not  like  it  very  much,  judging  from  their 
scowls.  The  word  was  finally  given  to  the  drivers 
to  start,  the  drivers  gave  the  word  to  the  steeds, 
and  away  they  went,  rattling  over  the  cobble- 
stones of  Oaxaca,  bum] ting  over  the  culverts  in  the 
middle  of  the  narrow  streets  and  trenching  upon 
the  narrow  sidewalks,  until  Roy  maintained  that 
nil  his  teeth  were  loose  and  the  three  children 
stopped  talking  for  fear  they  should  bite  their 
tongues. 

"Is  it  this  way  all  the  way,  I  wonder,"  said 
Mrs.  Stevens,  in  despair. 

"Oh,  no,  mother,  don't  you  remember,"  said 
Ray,  "that  the  guide-book  said  once  we  were  out 
of  Oaxaca  it  was  a  good  road?" 

"So  it  did,"  said  her  mother,  "and  we'll  live 
in  hope." 

The  guide-book  proved  to  be  right  for  the  most 
part,  though  there  were  many  places  where  the 
rains  had  washed  off  the  dirt  and  left  the  rocks 
exposed,  making  jolting-places  where  Ray  par- 
ticularly, being  light  in  weight,  Mew  right  off  the 
seat  and  up  into  the  air.    They  all  took  these  very 


282  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

good-naturedly,  and  Harry's  suggestion  that  per- 
haps she  might  fly  up  high  enough  to  come  down 
in  the  other  carriage  was  received  with  shouts  of 
laughter. 

They  met  a  constant  stream  of  Indians  coming 
to  Oaxaca  to  market,  and  noticed  what  they  had 
already  observed  on  the  railway  journey  south, 
that  the  beast  of  burden  here  was  the  ox  rather 
than  the  donkey,  though  the  donkey  was  still 
used.  The  oxen  were  hitched  to  the  carts  and 
to  the  plow,  and  the  donkeys  carried  people 
and  the  smaller  burdens. 

" Aren't  these  oxen  splendid  creatures!"  ex- 
claimed Harry. 

"Not  quite  so  fine  as  the  Roman  ones,"  said 
Mrs.  Stevens,  "many  of  which  are  pure  white,  but 
these  certainly  are  massive.  The  carts  are  very 
interesting,  too." 

"Some  of  them  are  different  from  the  others," 
said  Ray;  "they  all  have  poles  standing  up 
around  them,  but  some  have  netting  stretched 
from  one  pole  to  another." 

"That's  to  carry  things  that  would  fall  out  in 
the  spaces  between  the  poles,"  said  Roy,  "like 


THE   ROAD  TO  MITLA  283 

charcoal  and  vegetables.  The  grass  and  hay  and 
things  like  that  don't  need  the  netting.  What 
funny  wheels  they  have!" 

"Yes,  perfectly  solid  like  car-wheels,  only  made 
of  wood,"  said  Harry.  "Have  you  noticed  how 
low  the  oxen  are  geared!  The  oxbow  holds  their 
noses  almost  to  the  ground." 

"They  must  be  glad  to  get  it  off  and  stretch 
their  necks,"  said  Ray.  "I  saw  one  man  in 
Oaxaca  unhitch  his  oxen  from  the  cart,  when  he 
stopped  to  deliver  a  load  of  charcoal." 

"And  his  wife  and  baby  were  sitting  right  in 
with  the  charcoal,"  said  her  mother. 

"Yes,  and  when  they  got  out  and  he  tipped  the 
cart  up  at  one  end  the  baby  crawled  in  under  the 
other  and  began  picking  up  little  bits  of  coal,  and 
the  black  dust  just  sifted  through  the  bottom  of 
the  car  all  over  him,"  added  Roy. 

"I  wonder  if  they  eat  charcoal  as  well  as  cook 
with  it,"  said  Ray.  "They  must  do  something  to 
make  their  teeth  so  white." 

"It  seems  to  me  these  oxen  are  very  smart," 
said  Roy;  "the  man  isn't  driving  at  all,  and  they 
go  along  just  the  same,  and  if  he  wants  them  to 


284  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

turn  out  he  just  pokes  the  near  ox  with  his  stick 
and  they  understand.  He  seems  to  drive  with  his 
stick  entirely,  for  I  haven't  seen  any  reins.  And 
all  the  harness  they  have  is  just  the  oxbow." 

' '  The  people  seem  to  think  we  are  very  funny, ' : 
said  Ray;  "they  often  smile  as  if  they  were 
amused  at  us." 

"Perhaps  it  is  because  your  hat  is  on  one  side," 
said  her  mother,  straightening  the  hat. 

"I  should  think  it  would  be  hind-side-before, 
from  the  number  of  times  I  have  gone  up  and 
come  down,"  said  Ray,  laughing,  "but  I  think 
it  is  just  because  we  all  look  different  from 
them. ' ' 

"Well,  we're  even  there,"  said  Roy,  "for  we 
often  smile  at  them." 

"I'm  going  to  see  if  they'll  speak  to  me,"  said 
Ray;  "may  I,  mother?" 

"Yes,  if  you'll  pick  out  a  party  with  children  in 
it,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens. 

Ray  was  delighted  to  find  that  her  smile  and  nod 
were  returned  by  the  mothers  if  not  by  the 
children,  and  soon  the  whole  party  were  saluting 
and  being  saluted  as  they  drove  along.    It  made 


THE  IIOAI)  TO  MITLA  285 

the  drive  much  more  cheerful  and  "less  lone- 
some," Kay  said. 

When  the  morning  was  about  half  over,  the 
driver  stopped,  looked  back  at  the  other  driver 
and  made  signs.  Driver  number  two  communi- 
cated with  his  passengers  and  nodded  yes,  and 
driver  number  one  promptly  turned  into  a  road 
at  the  right  that  ran  into  a  grove  of  trees  and  a 
village. 

"Why,  where  are  we  going?"  asked  Roy. 

"This  must  be  the  way  to  the  great  tree  of  Tule 
(Tu'-lay),"  said  his  mother,  "and  apparently 
most  of  the  villagers  are  going  with  us." 

There  was  certainly  quite  a  following  of  people, 
and  as  there  was  recess  at  the  village  school  at 
this  moment  most  of  the  crowd  were  small  boys. 
They  immediately  noticed  Mrs.  Stevens'  camera, 
and  all  flocked  about  the  carriage  suggesting  that 
she  take,  their  photographs.  One  of  them,  a  boy 
of  eleven,  seemed  to  be  the  leader  and  the  most 
persistent.  "But,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens,  in  fun, 
"why  should  I  take  your  picture?  You  are  not 
good-looking." 

"Yes,"  said  the  boy,  quite  seriously,  "yes,  T  am 


286  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

good-looking,"  and  he  really  was  very  handsome, 
so  that  she  would  have  been  tempted  to  take  him 
if  she  could  have  separated  him  from  the  crowd, 
which  seemed  impossible.  The  carriage  stopped 
at  the  gate  of  the  village  churchyard,  and  the 
children  were  soon  inside  the  enclosure,  so  im- 
pressed with  the  size  of  the  great  tree  that  at  first 
they  could  only  walk  around  and  around  it  with- 
out saying  a  word.  Six  feet  from  the  ground,  it 
measured  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  feet  around, 
and  twenty-eight  people  standing  with  their  backs 
against  it  and  their  arms  outstretched,  touching 
hands,  could  just  encircle  it. 

"I  wonder  how  old  it  is,"  said  Roy;  "it  must 
have  been  here  long  before  the  Spaniards." 

"Oh,  yes,"  said  Harry,  "as  old  as  the  ruined 
temples,  I  imagine,  and  no  one  knows  when  they 
were  built." 

"What  kind  of  a  tree  is  it?"  asked  Ray. 

"An  ahuehuetl,  the  same  as  the  tree  of  La 
Noche  Triste,  don't  you  see?"  said  Roy. 

"Yes,  so  it  is,  a  kind  of  cypress." 

"What's  this,  mother,  here  on  the  side?"  called 
Roy. 


THE   ROAD  TO  MITLA  287 

"Oh,  I  was  looking  for  that,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens. 
"That's  where  Humboldt,  the  great  German 
traveller,  wrote  an  inscription  on  the  bark.  It  is 
almost  covered  with  new  bark.  He  was  here  in 
1803,  I  believe." 

"Well,  then  we  can  get  some  idea  of  its  age," 
said  Harry,  "for  that  was  over  a  hundred  years 
ago,  and  this  two  inches  of  bark  shows  the  growth 
of  that  period." 

"Then  it  must  date  back  to  the  Flood,"  said 
Roy,  joking. 

The  other  carriage  had  come  by  this  time,  and 
after  a  further  examination  of  the  tree  the  two 
parties  resumed  their  drive  and  were  soon  at 
Tlacolula,  a  little  blue  and  white  village  with  a 
pretty  plaza  where  they  were  to  take  luncheon. 
They  entered  the  small  hotel  through  a  sort  of 
general  store,  and  found  themselves  in  a  long, 
narrow  patio  with  a  tiled  gallery  and  the  usual 
flowering  vines  and  central  cypress.  The  sun 
shone  into  one  side  of  it  while  the  other  was  in 
shade,  and  in  the  shade  tables  covered  with  clean, 
white  cloths  were  awaiting  any  travellers  that 
might  come  along.    To  say  that  the  children  did 


288  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

justice  to  the  soup  and  beefsteak,  the  brioches  and 
chocolate,  is  unnecessary,  for  the  long  drive  in 
the  open  air  and  the  "shaking  down"  it  had  given 
to  what  they  had  already  eaten  had  left  a  great 
void  to  be  filled.  The  drivers  were  not  forgotten, 
and  though  they  had  carried  dry  bread  with  them 
for  their  mid-day  meal  in  case  their  employers 
should  not  see  fit  to  remember  them  at  noon,  they 
were  much  better  pleased  to  have  the  hot  enchi- 
ladas that  Mr.  Clarke  ordered  sent  out  to  them, 
and  were  still  wiping  the  crumbs  from  their 
moustaches  when  the  party  again  got  into  the 
carriages. 

After  that  the  journey  was  on  a  down  grade 
most  of  the  time  and  they  reached  Mitla  early  in 
the  afternoon,  before  the  daily  dust-storm  had 
more  than  begun  and  while  the  sun  was  still 
shining.  They  were  glad  to  alight  and  stretch 
their  limbs,  and  yet,  as  they  looked  back  on  the 
beautiful  drive  across  the  plain  with  mountains 
on  either  side,  with  trees  and  shrubs,  vines  and 
flowers  bordering  the  road,  with  the  cactus  vil- 
lages, the  pretty,  saucy  children  and  barking  dogs 
and  glimpses  of  Indian  life,  the  continual  proces- 


THE  ROAD  TO  MITLA  289 

sion  of  country  people  going  and  coming,  they  all 
agreed  that  it  was  the  most  interesting  drive  they 
had  ever  had,  and  that  they  would  really  be  sorry 
for  travellers  when  the  railroad  was  extended  to 
Mitla  as  was  promised  and  expected. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

MITLA 

They  entered  Mitla  by  crossing  a  half-dried-up 
stream,  and  found  themselves  in  the  usual  village 
of  adobe  huts  with  cactus  hedges  around  the  little, 
barren  yards — one  could  not  call  them  gardens. 
At  every  opening  in  the  hedge  stood  smiling 
children,  for  whom  the  coming  of  such  travellers 
was  the  event  of  the  day,  and  every  family  seemed 
to  own  a  dog  whose  business  it  was  to  bark  at 
teams  or  strangers.  The  hacienda  of  Don  Felix 
Quero  (Fay'-lix  Kay'-ro),  where  they  were  to  stop, 
since  there  was  no  hotel  in  the  town,  was  situated 
on  the  Plaza.  It  was  a  long,  low,  whitewashed 
house  with  a  gallery  along  the  front,  facing  the 
market-place — a  large,  open  space  with  three 
great  cypress-trees  and  a  low,  tiled  shed  in  the 
shape  of  an  L.  Don  Felix's  family  was  the 
only  white   family  in  the   village,   and   he   kept 

290 


MITLA  291 

the  general  store  of  the  place  in  one  corner  of  his 
house. 

"It  looks  just  like  the  little  stores  in  the  villages 
at  home,"  said  Kay,  as  they  went  in  and  met  Don 
Felix,  a  short,  kindly  little  man  with  grey  hair 
and  moustache.  After  their  names  were  all 
written  in  the  register,  Don  Felix  led  them 
through  the  shop  into  his  large  and  beautiful 
patio,  where  it  seemed  as  if  there  were  "every- 
thing that  was  in  the  botany,"  Harry  said,  and 
introduced  them  to  his  daughter,  a  smiling,  cor- 
dial, little  sefiorita  with  a  ruffled  apron  and  a 
bunch  of  keys  as  signs  of  her  housekeepership. 
She  opened  three  of  the  six  rooms  at  one  end  of 
the  patio,  and  Kay  and  her  mother  took  one,  Roy 
and  his  father  another,  and  Mr.  Clarke  and  Harry 
the  third.  After  a  few  minutes  spent  in  brushing 
and  washing  off  the  dust  of  their  journey,  Ray 
came  out  into  the  tiled  gallery  and  found 
Roy,  who  was  already  out  and  looking  about 
him. 

"We've  got  such  a  nice  room,"  said  Ray,  en- 
thusiastically; "little  canopies  over  the  beds,  like 
tents,  and  a  barred  window  and  a  rosebush  peep- 


292  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

ing  in  at  the  bars.  And  mother  has  a  table  and  a 
chair  and  I  have  a  table  and  a  chair,  and  each  one 
of  us  has  a  clothes-rack.  And  there  are  two 
candles  and  two  wash-bowls,  everything  in 
couples." 

' '  You  must  have  been  spending  your  time  count- 
ing things,"  said  Roy.  "I've  been  out  here  look- 
ing around  the  patio.  See  the  birds,"  and  he 
pointed  to  a  row  of  cages  overhead  where  mock- 
ing birds  and  parroquets  were  hanging.  "There's 
a  big  fountain  right  in  the  middle,"  he  con- 
tinued, "you  can  hardly  see  it  for  the  vines,  but 
it's  there  and  it's  a  kind  of  well,  too,  for  I  saw 
them  draw  water  from  it." 

Just  then  a  big  front  door  opened  from  the 
Plaza  and  the  horses  of  their  team  were  brought 
in  by  the  mozo  and  watered  at  the  well,  and  were 
then  led  through  the  patio  to  a  sort  of  barn-yard 
beyond.  Two  white  cats  came  strolling  into  the 
gallery  and  rubbed  against  the  children,  and  then 
a  big,  white  setter,  with  a  very  benevolent  face, 
came  to  sniff  at  them. 

"I'd  just  love  to  stay  here  a  week,"  said  Ray, 
and  Roy  heartily  agreed  with  her. 


MITLA  293 

Presently,  the  others  appeared,  and  after 
arranging  with  the  hospitable  senorita  to  have 
dinner  at  seven,  they  departed  on  foot  for  the 
ruins,  which  were  not  very  far  off.  A  few  dogs 
barked  at  them,  but  no  one  paid  any  attention  and 
the  dogs  presently  retired;  then  several  small 
children  seemed  to  spring  up  from  the  ground  at 
various  places  and  the  party  had  quite  an  escort 
by  the  time  they  arrived  at  the  ruins.  The  twins 
were  delighted  to  find  they  had  to  cross  a  stream 
on  the  stones,  and  both  Roy  and  Ray  were  quite 
anxious  lest  their  mother  should  not  be  able  to 
cross,  and  were  full  of  directions  as  to  how  to 
do  it. 

"Here,  take  my  hand,  mother!"  said  Roy. 

''Don't  step  on  that  stone,  mother,  it's  wob- 
bly," advised  Ray. 

"Why,  children,  you  seem  to  think  I 
am  quite  a  helpless  body,"  laughed  Mrs. 
Stevens. 

"It's  just  because  we  don't  want  anything  to 
happen  to  the  only  mother  we've  got,"  said  Raw 
affectionately. 

"How  about  the  only  father  you've  got?"  said 


294  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

Mr.  Stevens,  in  an  injured  tone.  "I  suppose  I 
might  fall  into  this  raging  stream  and  get 
drowned,  for  all  you  would  take  notice." 

"Raging  stream!"  exclaimed  Ray,  "I  don't  be- 
lieve it  ever  raged  in  its  life." 

"Just  wait  until  to-morrow,"  said  Mr.  Clarke. 
"If  we  should  have  a  good  night's  rain,  it  would 
be  impossible  for  you  to  get  to  the  ruins  to- 
morrow except  by  fording. ' ' 

"It  hardly  seems  possible,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens. 
' '  We  must  make  the  most  of  our  time  to-day,  then, 
lest  this  should  be  our  only  visit." 

As  they  climbed  the  low  hill  on  the  farther  side 
of  the  creek-bed,  a  man  came  out  of  one  of  the 
adobe  huts  carrying  some  keys  and  announced 
himself  as  the  custodian  of  the  ruins  and  a  guide. 
He  tried  to  shoo  the  little  Indians  away,  but  they 
were  not  easily  dispersed  and  always  came  back 
again. 

"I  wonder  if  the  guide  knows  any  English  and 
can  tell  us  about  the  ruins,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens. 
Mr.  Stevens  asked  the  man  if  he  spoke  English, 
and  found  he  did  not,  though  he  could  understand 
the  language  a  little. 


MITLA  295 

"I  think  Mr.  Clarke  can  tell  us  all  that  is  known, 
can  you  not?"  asked  Mr.  Stevens. 

"There  is  very  little  known,"  replied  Mr. 
Clarke.  "It  is  not  known  whether  the  buildings 
were  temples  or  fortresses,  and  whether  they 
were  built  by  the  Toltecs,  a  race  that  came  before 
the  Aztecs,  or  by  some  unknown  race.  One  thing 
you  will  notice  is  that  there  are  no  curves  or 
arches  in  the  construction — all  the  corners  and 
openings  are  right-angled  and  square-cornered, 
and  that  is  a  feature  of  the  ruins  known  to  be 
Toltec.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Toltecs  usually 
built  pyramids  also,  and  there  are  no  pyramids 
here."  As  he  spoke,  they  came  to  the  first 
building  or  court.  They  found,  after  they  had 
finished  their  inspection  that  there  had  been  four 
walled  courts  around  an  open  central  court  or 
patio,  facing  exactly  to  the  four  points  of  the 
compass. 

The  north  court  was  less  ruined  than  the  others, 
and  under  the  southern  court  was  a  subterranean 
passage.  Ray  hung  back  a  little  when  the  guide 
lighted  a  candle  and,  climbing  down  into  an 
opening,  requested  them  to  follow  him;  but  seeing 


296  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

that  all  the  others  were  going,  she  made  up  her 
mind  that  she  would  rather  go  than  be  left  alone, 
so  she  followed  the  party  with  some  misgivings. 
Once  down  in  the  passage,  however,  she  did  not 
find  it  so  dark  as  she  expected,  and  several  times 
lingered  behind  the  party  to  examine  the  pattern 
of  the  decoration  on  the  walls.  She  wished  she 
had  a  pencil  and  paper,  just  to  put  down  a  sug- 
gestion of  the  design,  for  she  found  no  two  pat- 
terns alike  and  she  thought  some  of  them  would 
be  lovely  to  do  in  braid  or  in  stitching  on  her 
doll's  clothes. 

"Come  on,  Ray,"  called  Roy,  "we're  going  to 
look  at  the  visitors'  book." 

The  guide  kept  this  in  a  corner  where  the 
passage  made  a  turn,  and  requested  them  all  to 
write  their  names  in  it.  They  looked  back  through 
the  pages  and  found  several  quite  celebrated 
names,  and  among  others  those  of  a  whole  party 
of  Chinese.  These  had  written  some  comments 
on  the  ruins  which  one  of  the  party  translated  into 
English.  They  said  the  ruins  were  very  much  like 
certain  temples  in  northern  China  and  in  their 
opinion  had  been  built  by  the  same  race  of  people. 


MITLA  297 

"How  did  they  ever  get  here?"  asked  Barry, 
wonderingly. 

"By  Beliring's  Strait,  T  suppose,"  said  Mr. 
Clarke.  "Only  the  other  day  there  were  relics 
found  in  the  State  of  Washington,  which  are  said 
to  be  undoubtedly  Aztec,  showing  thai  these  early 
races  have  at  least  had  communication  with  the 
northern  coast." 

"What  was  this,  I  wonder,"  said  Roy,  as  they 
came  into  a  room  larger  than  the  others,  with 
great  columns  nearly  seven  feet  thick  extending 
in  a  row  down  the  middle. 

"They  call  it  now  the  'Hall  of  Monoliths,'" 
said  Mr.  Clarke,  "but  what  the  builders  intended 
it  for,  we  don't  know.  These  columns  and  the 
great  door-caps  are  of  one  solid  stone,  each  of  the 
latter  twelve  to  eighteen  feet  long,  four  to  six  feet 
wide,  and  three  to  five  feet  thick.  No  one  knows 
how  these  great  stones  were  lifted  to  their 
places." 

"Do  you  notice,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  "that  all 
these  stones  are  fitted  together  without  any  cement 
to  hold  them.'" 

"Yes,"  said   Mrs.  Stevens,  "and   many  of  the 


298  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

pieces  are  very  small,  and  yet  they  fit  together 
like  mosaics.  Thev  were  wonderful  builders, 
those  people,  whoever  they  were." 

"Don't  you  suppose  we  shall  ever  find  out?" 
said  Roy.  "If  I  began  to  study  hieroglyphics  and 
architecture  and  history  now  and  kept  on  for 
years  and  years,  do  you  suppose  I  could  make  the 
discovery?" 

"You  might  not  make  the  discovery,  but  you 
would  find  out  a  great  many  other  things,"  said 
Mr.  Stevens. 

"I'd  like  to  find  out  something  nobody  ever 
knew  before,"  said  Roy. 

"It  might  be  worth  trying,  just  for  the  pleasure 
of  the  study,"  said  Mr.  Clarke. 

"Let's  do  it  together,  Harry,"  said  Roy. 

"All  right,"  replied  Harry;  "I'll  be  right  here 
on  the  spot  and  you'll  be  where  you  can  get  all 
the  books  and  teachers." 

They  were  quite  absorbed  in  their  plans,  when 
suddenly  some  one  announced  that  it  was  raining. 

"Oh,  dear!"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Stevens,  "we  have 
no  umbrellas.  Can't  we  wait  until  the  rain  is 
over  ? ' ' 


MITLA  299 

"That  might  be  to-morrow  morning,"  said  Mr. 
Clarke,  "but  we  can  wait  until  some  of  those 
children  can  go  and  get  our  umbrellas.  Just  stay 
here  under  shelter  until  I  send  for  them." 

He  went  in  search  of  the  little  Indians,  whom 
the  guide  had  not  allowed  to  come  into  the  under- 
ground passages,  and  returned  presently  very 
much  amused.  "That  pretty  little  girl  that  fol- 
lowed us  has  gone  for  them,"  he  said,  "but  she 
wouldn't  do  it  until  I  promised  faithfully  to  pay 
her.  She  wouldn't  believe  the  guide,  so  I  had  to 
assure  her  that  she  would  not  lose  anything  by  the 


service." 


It  was  some  time  before  the  umbrellas  came, 
and  in  the  meantime  the  boys  and  Ray  wandered 
about  the  passages,  examining  what  they  could  see 
of  the  walls.  The  guide  had  shown  them  a  little 
scrap  of  picture-writing  outside  on  a  background 
of  terra-cotta  colour,  and  they  thought  that  by 
careful  looking  they  might  find  some  more.  When 
the  party  finally  came  out  from  underground, 
what  with  climbing  up  and  raising  their  umbrellas 
and  finding  places  to  step — for  the  ground  was 
already  quite  soft  and  it  was  raining  hard — no- 


300  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

body,  not  even  the  guide,  noticed  that  the  party 
was  not  complete.  He  locked  the  gateway  to  the 
passage  and  the  party  had  got  some  yards  away, 
all  hurrying,  when  the  little  Indian  girl  came  run- 
ning after  them  with  excited  exclamations  that 
none  of  them  understood  except  the  guide.  He 
stopped  suddenly,  listening  to  her,  turned  and 
gave  a  quick  review  of  the  party  who  were  still 
marching  on,  and  suddenly  set  out  on  a  run  back 
to  the  ruins.  At  the  same  moment,  Mrs.  Stevens 
turned  to  her  husband,  who  was  behind  her,  ex- 
claiming, "Kay!  where  is  Ray?"  Everybody 
stopped  short. 

"I  was  talking  and  I  didn't  notice  she  wasn't 
with  us,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  already  on  his  way 
back. 

"I  thought  she  was  behind  with  you,"  said 
Mrs.  Stevens. 

Roy  said  nothing,  but  ran  back  after  his  father 
and  the  guide.  In  a  moment,  the  guide  appeared, 
carrying  Ray,  whom  he  set  down  upon  the  ground 
with  a  comforting  pat  on  the  shoulder  and  a  fa- 
therly smile,  for  he  had  little  girls  of  his  own,  and 
Mr.  Stevens  caught  her  up  and  gave  her  a  hug. 


it 


MITLA  301 

;How  did  it  happen,  child?    Were  you  fright- 
ened?" 

"Not  much,"  said  Ray,  bravely,  though  she  was 
rather  pale.  "I  must  have  been  in  one  of  the 
other  passages  when  you  came  out,"  she  ex- 
plained, "and  I  was  trying  to  copy  something  off 
the  wall — see?"  showing  a  design  in  pencil  on  a 
bit  of  paper  she  had  borrowed  from  her  father, 
"and  suddenly  I  noticed  how  still  it  was,  and  I 
went  back  and  you  had  all  gone.  At  first,  I  didn't 
know  what  to  do.  It  seemed  so  silly  to  shout  for 
help  when  I  knew  you  would  soon  miss  me — and  I 
knew  there  weren't  any  wild  beasts  or  snakes  in 
there — so  I  was  just  going  to  wait  at  the  entrance, 
when  I  saw  the  little  Indian  girl  and  made  signs 
to  her." 

The  whole  party  had  come  back  and  were 
listening  to  Ray's  story,  and  they  all  compli- 
mented her  on  her  self-control. 

"Some  little  girls  would  not  have  stopped  to 
reason  at  all,  but  would  have  begun  screaming  and 
crying  at  the  very  idea  of  being  left  alone,"  said 
Mr.  Clarke. 

"My  sister  isn't  one  of  that  kind,"  said  Roy, 


302  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

proudly,  and  Ray  was  more  pleased  at  this  than 
at  any  other  praise,  for  Roy  did  not  often  pay 
compliments. 

Very  soon,  the  three  children  were  laughing 
over  the  incident,  and  were  planning  to  write  a 
story  called  "The  Prisoner  of  Mitla,"  of  which 
Ray  was  to  be  the  heroine. 

Even  in  so  short  a  time,  they  found  the  tiny 
stream  had  risen  and  that  they  had  to  pick  their 
way  very  carefully  to  keep  from  wetting  their 
feet.  When  they  reached  one  of  the  huts,  the  little 
Indian  girl,  who  had  been  following  them,  came  up 
to  Mr.  Clarke,  demanding  "Mi  paga?" 

"Porque?"  he  inquired.  She  pointed  to  Ray, 
but  had  the  grace  to  look  a  little  ashamed  as  she 
met  his  scornful  look. 

"What  does  she  want!"  asked  Mr.  Stevens. 

"To  be  paid  for  calling  our  attention  to  the  loss 
of  the  little  girl,"  said  Mr.  Clarke.  "Don't  give 
her  anything — she  ought  to  be  ashamed." 

"Father,  let  me  give  her  something?"  said 
Ray;  "I'd  like  to  do  it — not  because  she  called 
you  but  because  she  was  so  excited  and  so  anxious, 
you  know.    She  was  really  sorry  for  me." 


MITLA  303 

So  they  waited  in  the  rain  and  Ray  got  out  her 
little  knit  purse  and  offered  the  Indian  girl  some 
money,  but  just  as  the  child  was  about  to  take  it 
some  sense  of  shame  overcame  her  and  she  turned 
and  ran  away. 

"I'll  leave  it  with  Don  Felix  for  her,"  said  Ray, 
quietly,  "she'll  have  to  take  it  if  we're  all  gone." 

"Well,  now  we  must  get  home  as  quickly  as 
possible,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens,  "and  get  on  dry 
shoes,  for  I  know  these  must  be  wet." 

Mr.  Stevens  paid  the  guide  and  engaged  him 
for  a  little  while  the  next  morning,  if  it  did  not 
rain,  to  show  them  a  few  other  ruins  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood, and  then  they  all  hurried  back  to  the 
hacienda,  glad  to. get  under  shelter  from  the  rain, 
which  was  now  almost  a  pour. 


CHAPTER  XXV 
MITLA  CONTINUED 

"It  seems,  somehow,  as  if  we  ought  to  go  to  a 
fire  to  get  dry,"  said  Roy,  as  they  sat  in  the 
gallery,  waiting  for  dinner,  and  watched  the  rain 
pouring  down  into  the  patio. 

"But  we  aren't  wet,"  said  Ray. 

"No,  I  know  we  aren't  really,  but  it  seems  as  if 
everything  were  wet  when  you  sit  out  of  doors  and 
see  the  rain  come  down  like  that." 

And  truly  in  the  rainy  season,  a  heavy  pour  or  a 
continuous  drizzle  of  several  days  does  make 
everything  damp  all  through,  so  that  Roy  was 
partly  right. 

"What  I  miss  is  a  rocking-chair,"  confessed 

Mrs.  Stevens.    "It  doesn't  seem  as  if  one  could 

really  rest  in  these  stationary  chairs.     And,  so 

far,  we  have  had  rocking-chairs  at  most  of  our 

hotels,  so  that  I  have  not  got  used  to  doing  without 

them," 

304 


MITLA  CONTINUED  3<>f> 

"Well,  we  are  very  fortunate  to  have  so  com- 
fortable a  place  as  this,"  said  Mr.  Clarke.  "The 
house  is  as  clean  as  wax,  and  you'll  see  that  we 
shall  get  a  good  dinner,  not  at  all  Mexican.  Don 
Felix  seems  to  have  learned  the  tastes  of  his 
visitors,  who  are  very  often  Americans  and 
English,  and  to  know  just  what  to  give 
them." 

"They  don't  have  to  water  these  plants  at  all 
in  the  rainy  season,  do  they?"  asked  Roy. 

"Yes,  almost  as  much.  The  water  dries  off  or 
sinks  in  so  quickly.  You  remember  that  at 
Cuernavaca  everything  was  watered  twice  a 
day. ' ' 

"Then  in  the  dry  season  I  suppose  they  begin 
again  as  soon  as  they  get  around  once,  and  just 
keep  at  it  all  the  time,"  said  Harry. 

"Might  as  well  be  a  mill-wheel,"  said  Roy. 

And  very  soon  the  two  boys  were  telling  each 
other  how  they  would  do  things  if  they  lived  in 
Mexico  and  had  the  power.  Ray  began  to  yawn — 
she  didn't  care  about  the  conversation  and  she 
thought  it  a  long  time  until  dinner. 

"Don't  you  want  to  see   the  kitchen,  Ray?" 


306  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

asked  Mr.  Clarke.  "I  think  they'll  let  us  look  in, 
and  perhaps  you  haven't  seen  one  of  the  Mexican 
ranges." 

"Oh,  yes!"  answered  Ray;  "I  always  meant  to 
go  at  Cuernavaca,  but  I  always  forgot." 

Just  then  the  mozo  came  by  and  Mr.  Clarke 
asked  if  there  would  be  any  objection  to  their  see- 
ing the  kitchen.  The  mozo  went  to  inquire  and 
reported  that  they  would  be  welcome,  so  the  two 
followed  him  through  a  passage  into  a  smaller 
patio  surrounded  by  out-buildings  where  charcoal 
and  other  things  were  kept. 

Along  one  side  of  the  second  patio  ran  a  gallery 
with  the  usual  tiled  floor,  and  out  of  this  opened 
the  kitchen.  "My,  what  a  big  room!"  exclaimed 
Ray,  as  she  peeped  in. 

"Pasa!  (Enter!),"  said  a  stout,  little  woman 
who,  they  afterward  found,  was  Sehora  Quero,  and 
who  was  superintending  the  dinner.  All  around 
the  walls  hung  utensils  of  copper,  and  on  the  floor 
stood  jars  and  bowls  of  red  pottery  and  baskets  of 
various  sizes.  In  the  centre  of  the  room,  extend- 
ing out  from  one  of  the  walls,  was  a  clay  construc- 
tion that  proved  to  be  the  range. 


A  Mexican  Kitchen  Range 


MITLA  CONTINUED  307 

"Is  that  the  kitchen-stove?"  asked  Ray,  sur- 
prised. 

"That  is  the  usual  Mexican  stove,"  replied  Mr. 
Clarke.  "Those  holes  you  see  all  along  the  side 
are  to  give  draught  to  the  coals  and  also  to  allow 
the  ashes  to  be  taken  out;  and  each  of  those  pots 
you  see  on  top  stands  on  a  grating  covered  with 
hot  coals." 

"It  seems  like  our  ranges  in  everything  that 
you  have  to  have,"  said  Ray,  "though  it  looks  so 
different." 

"Yes,  the  principles  of  fire-making  are  pretty 
much  the  same  everywhere,"  said  Mr.  Clarke. 
"Judging  from  my  sense  of  smell,  this  fire  is 
doing  some  very  good  cooking." 

"It  makes  me  hungry,"  said  Ray,  sniffing  the 
pleasant  odour,  at  which  the  cook  and  the  senora 
both  smiled,  while  the  little  girl  who  helped  in  the 
kitchen  and  whose  eves  had  never  left  Rav  for  a 
moment,  laughed  heartily,  showing  all  her  pretty, 
white  teeth. 

Mr.  Clarke  thanked  the  senora  and  said  it  was 
evident  there  was  a  good  dinner  coming,  and  they 
found  their  way  back  to  the  others.    At  last,  after 


308  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

the  patio  had  been  lighted  by  two  lamps  with  re- 
flectors, it  was  announced  that  dinner  was  served, 
and  the  party  all  filed  into  the  comedor  (co-may- 
dor'),  or  dining-room.  This  had  a  bare  floor  and 
nothing  on  the  whitewashed  walls,  and  with  the 
table  draped  in  spotless  white  and  the  mozo  who 
waited  all  in  white,  it  seemed  fitting  that  the  soup 
should  be  white,  too. 

"What  makes  it  so  good?"  asked  Roy. 

"I  think  it  must  have  cheese  in  it,"  said  Mr. 
Clarke.  "The  Mexicans  make  delicious  cheeses, 
and  they  use  them  to  flavour  nearly  every- 
thing." 

"Yes,  it  does  taste  like  cheese,"  said  Mrs. 
Stevens. 

"I  could  enjoy  my  soup  more,  if  I  weren't  so 
anxious  for  my  next  course,"  confessed  Harry, 
and  they  all  admitted  that  they  felt  equally 
hungry,  not  to  say  greedy.  The  next  course 
proved  to  be  a  beautifully  poached  egg  apiece 
with  rice  cooked  to  perfection,  every  grain  stand- 
ing by  itself.  Then  came  a  good  beefsteak  with 
thinly  sliced  fried  potatoes  and  a  small  dish  of 
stewed  fruit.     After  that,  to  the  children's  great 


MITLA   CONTINUED  309 

joy  and  surprise,  delicious  little  griddle-cakes 
with  fresh,  strained  honey.  Then  fruit,  and 
finally  coffee  and  little  sweet  cakes. 

"A  dinner  fit  for  a  king,  for  everything  was 
cooked  exactly  right,"  said  Mr.  Stevens. 

"Yes,  indeed,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens.  "I  hope, 
Mr.  Clarke,  you  will  send  our  compliments  to  the 
cook,  and  tell  her  we  haven't  had  as  good  a  meal 
at  any  hotel  in  Mexico." 

"I'm  wondering  what  we  are  going  to  do  next," 
said  Harry,  as  they  rose  from  the  table. 

"I  brought  a  game  along,"  said  Ray. 

"And  I  brought  a  book,"  said  Roy. 

"We  men  have  our  cigars  to  dispose  of,  while 
we  talk  business,"  said  Mr.  Clarke. 

"And  I  am  going  to  write  letters,"  announced 
Mrs.  Stevens. 

"Yes,  but  where  are  we  going  to  get  the  light 
for  all  this?"  asked  Harry.  "There  are  only 
candles  in  our  rooms." 

"  Oh,  I  don 't  think  we  can  go  to  our  rooms  now, ' ' 
said  Mrs.  Stevens;  "that  would  be  too  unsocial. 
We'll  ask  the  senorita  to  give  us  lamps  on  these 
two  tables  here  in  the  gallery.    It's  not  so  damp 


310  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

but  that  we  can  sit  here  if  we  wrap  up  a 
little." 

So  it  was  arranged.  Mrs.  Stevens  was  soon 
writing  her  letters  under  the  light  of  a  kerosene 
lamp,  at  one  table,  while  the  boys  played  their 
game  at  the  other,  and  the  two  men  sat  in  a  corner 
and  talked,  not  needing  a  light.  Ray  was  tired 
and  lay  on  a  long  seat  by  her  mother's  table, 
wrapped  in  a  shawl,  feeling  very  warm  and  com- 
fortable, listening  partly  to  the  voices  of  the 
others  and  partly  to  the  splash,  splash  of  the  rain 
as  it  fell  on  the  leaves  of  the  plants  or  ran 
gurgling  down  the  outlets  provided  at  the  corners 
and  centre  of  the  patio.  She  wished  they  had  a 
piazza  and  a  garden  like  these  at  home.  When 
the  others  were  ready  to  go  to  bed,  they  found 
her  already  fast  asleep,  soothed  by  the  steady 
music  of  the  rain. 

In  the  morning,  they  waked  to  find  the  rain 
over,  though  the  sky  was  still  grey.  The  roses, 
washed  clean  and  fresh,  were  peeping  in  at  the 
barred  windows  from  the  flower-garden  behind 
the  house,  and  all  the  party  had  slept  so  quietly 
and  soundly  after  their  drive  that  they  came  out 


MITLA  CONTINUED  311 

of  their  rooms  quite  ready  for  another  day's 
trip. 

"We  are  going  to  have  breakfast  right  here  in 
the  gallery,"  exclaimed  Ray,  and  the  children  all 
rejoiced,  for  they  loved  to  eat  out  of  doors — it 
was  so  like  a  picnic. 

"I  don't  see  why  we  don't  eat  out  of  doors 
more,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens.  "I  think  we  must  do 
it  oftener  when  we  get  back  home." 

"Our  side  porch  is  just  right,"  said  Ray,  "and 
Katy  can  pass  things  to  us  out  of  the  kitchen- 
window.    Won 't  that  be  fun ! ' ' 

As  they  sat  down  at  the  round  table,  the  party 
all  exclaimed  with  pleasure  at  the  tiny  buttonhole 
bouquet  the  mozo  had  put  at  each  plate,  with  a 
pin  for  fastening  it. 

"He  certainly  does  things  very  prettily.  Who 
would  expect  it  in  this  far  corner  of  the  world .' ' ' 
said  Mr.  Stevens. 

"I  think  we  shall  even  enjoy  our  breakfast  more 
for  this  little  attention,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens,  and 
they  all  bowed  and  smiled  as  the  mozo  came  for- 
ward to  serve  them.  Again  they  had  the  little 
griddle-cakes  with  honey,  and  the  children  were 


312  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

helped  a  second  time  and  were  so  enthusiastic 
over  them  that  Mr.  Stevens  said  he  felt  sure  that 
when  Mitla  was  mentioned  thereafter  the  chil- 
dren's first  thought  would  be  of  griddle-cakes 
instead  of  ruins. 

"Well,  /  think  griddle-cakes  are  pleasanter  to 
think  of  than  ruins,"  said  Ray. 

' '  You  'd  rather  be  shut  up  in  a  griddle-cake  than 
in  a  ruin,  anyway,  wouldn't  you,  Ray?"  suggested 
Roy. 

"Yes,  I  could  eat  my  way  out,"  laughed 
Ray. 

"That  makes  me  think  of  a  story,"  said  Mr. 
Clarke.  "A  young  minister  who  had  once 
preached  in  the  backwoods  told  me  the  only  time 
he  ever  lost  control  of  himself  and  actually 
laughed  in  the  pulpit  was  in  one  of  these  back- 
woods churches.  All  the  women  had  brought  their 
children,  even  their  babies,  having  no  one  to  leave 
them  with,  and  they  had  brought  various  eatables 
to  keep  the  children  busy  and  contented.  One 
woman  had  carried  some  cold  griddle-cakes,  large 
ones.  The  minister  rose  to  begin  his  sermon  and 
was    at    first    astonished    and    then    very    much 


MITLA  CONTINUED  313 

amused  to  see  her  little  boy  lying  on  his  back  in 
the  middle  aisle,  with  a  cake  spread  over  his  face. 
He  had  bitten  out  holes  for  his  eyes  and  mouth, 
and  was  sticking  his  tongue  out  through  the  latter 
opening.  Nobody  was  paying  any  attention  to 
him  and  no  one  seemed  to  see  anything  funny  in 
it  except  the  poor,  young  minister,  who  had  to 
control  himself  as  best  he  could." 

"I  can  just  see  that  kid,"  said  Harry,  laughing. 

"We  must  try  it  when  we  get  home,"  said  Roy. 
"These  cakes  are  too  little." 

"Where  are  we  going  this  morning,  father?" 
asked  Ray. 

"Over  to  see  the  sepulchre,"  said  Mr.  Stevens. 
"We  are  to  start  back  at  ten,  and  we  shall  just 
have  time  to  do  it." 

"I'd  like  to  see  the  ruins  by  morning  light," 
said  Harry,  who  had  not  forgotten  the  plan  for 
making  the  great  discovery. 

"Then  you'll  have  to  swim  or  ford  the  river,  my 
boy,"  said  his  father.  "That  rain  last  night  was 
enough  to  make  a  good-sized  stream  of  our 
little  creek.  You'd  better  be  content  with  the 
sepulchre." 


314  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

The  party  started  at  once  after  breakfast  to 
find  the  excavation,  which  was  discovered  in  1894 
and  which  the  Indians  had  used  as  a  corn-bin.  It 
proved  to  be  not  very  large,  only  about  eight  by 
six  feet,  and  below  the  level  of  the  rest  of  the 
ground.  What  it  had  been  originally  no  one 
knows,  but  because  little  images,  probably  of  gods, 
had  been  found  there,  it  was  supposed  to  have 
been  a  place  of  burial. 

"This  whole  valley  is  full  of  ruins,  less  perfect 
however  than  those  we  have  seen,"  said  Mr. 
Clarke.  "There  are  other  temples — if  temples 
they  were — and  pyramids,  and  the  modern  church 
over  there  which  is  now  being  repaired  and  ex- 
tended stands  on  the  site  of  one  of  the  old  temples 
and  is  built  in  part  of  the  temple  material.  In  the 
building  at  the  back  is  some  of  that  terra-cotta 
coloured  background  that  we  found  in  the  ruins 
yesterday." 

Just  here,  some  Indian  children  came  up, 
offering  for  sale  little  relics  found  in  the  sepul- 
chre, clay  heads  of  idols,  more  or  less  distinct  in 
form.  Among  them  was  the  little  messenger 
of  the  day  before,  and  Ray  saw  her  opportunity. 


MITLA   C'ONTINUKI)  315 

* ' I '11  buy  a  relic  of  her,  shan't  I,  mother?"  she 
asked. 

"Yes,  if  you  wish." 

''You  can't  carry  it  out  of  Mexico,"  warned 
Harry;  "the  law  doesn't  allow  it." 

Ray  hesitated,  then  said  suddenly,  "Well,  I 
can  do  something  else  with  it,"  and  she  pressed 
some  money  into  the  little  girl's  hand,  smiling  as 
she  did  so,  and  took  the  funny  little  clay  head  in 
return.  That  night,  Mr.  Clarke,  at  his  hotel,  felt 
something  in  his  coat-pocket  when  he  made  ready 
for  bed,  and,  investigating,  found  Kay's  idol.  So 
that  it  did  not  go  out  of  Mexico. 

The  morning  excursion  was  soon  over,  and  while 
the  horses  and  mules  were  being  harnessed  under 
the  big  ahuehuetl  in  front  of  the  hacienda,  the 
elders  of  the  party  talked  with  Don  Felix  and  the 
senora.  When  the  latter  found  that  the  Stevenses 
had  come  from  New  York,  she  asked  if  that  was  not 
in  the  United  States,  and  on  hearing  that  it  was, 
suggested  to  her  husband  that  they  might  know 
"Juanita  (Wa-nee'-ta)  in  California."  The  senor 
thought  it  might  be  worth  while  to  ask,  and  was 
disappointed  to  find  that  none  of  the  family  had 


316  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

ever  been  to  California  and  that  it  was  a  long, 
long  way  from  New  York.  The  boys  were  a  little 
disposed  to  laugh  at  this  simplicity,  but  the  elders 
thought  it  quite  charming. 

"But  you  wouldn't  like  me  not  to  know 
any  more  than  that,"  said  Roy  to  his 
mother. 

"About  the  United  States,  no;  for  that  is  your 
own  country.  But  I  should  hardly  expect  you  to 
know  the  distance  from  El  Paso  to  Campeche 
(Cam-pay'-chay),  or  from  Tehuantepec  (Tay- 
huan'-te-pec)  to  Manzanillo  (Man-za-nee'-yo) — do 
you?" 

"No,"  confessed  Roy;  "they  may  be  next  door 
to  each  other,  for  all  I  know." 

"I  daresay  Don  Felix  knows,"  said  Mrs. 
Stevens  quietly,  and  Roy  saw  the  point. 

The  departure  was  at  last  made,  with  hand- 
shaking and  compliments  and  cordial  smiles  all 
around,  even  the  children  venturing  to  say  "  Adios 
(Ah-dee-os':  Good-bye)."  Then  with  much  whip- 
cracking  and  much  shouting  of  "Andele!  (An- 
day-lay ) ' '  to  the  mules,  the  journey  back  to  Oaxaca 
began,  the  pleasanter  for  the  heavy  rain  which 


X 

3 


7, 

O 
3 


o 

M 


MITLA  CONTINUED  317 

had  laid  the  dust  and  softened  the  roads,  except 
where  it  had  washed  all  the  soil  off  the  rocks. 
These  the  children  called  bumping-places,  and 
Ray  as  before  began  to  "rise  in  the  world."  It 
was  nearly  four  in  the  afternoon  when  they  again 
found  themselves  in  Oaxaca,  quite  ready  for  a 
bath  and  a  nap. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 
THE  RETURN  JOURNEY 

The  whole  party  travelled  north  together  as  far 
as  Tehuacan,  Mr.  Clarke  going  on  alone  from 
there  while  Harry,  mueh  to  the  children's  delight, 
was  allowed  to  stay  with  the  Stevenses  and  go  on 
with  them  to  Orizaba. 

To  do  this,  they  were  obliged  to  stay  in  Tehua- 
can over  night,  and  went  out  to'  the  new  hotel 
which  was  becoming  famous  for  its  baths.  As 
they  had  to  get  back  to  the  town  in  time  for  the 
train  at  half-past  seven  the  next  morning,  they 
had  only  time  to  see  that  the  town  was  pretty  and 
looked  flourishing.  It  had  no  especial  history,  but 
they  learned  that  the  mineral  waters  there  had 
been  known  by  the  Indians  for  many  years  and 
had  been  used  by  them  to  cure  various  diseases 
long  before  the  white  men  had  found  them. 

In  the  morning,  after  a  hasty  breakfast  and  a 

318 


THE  RETURN  JOURNEY  319 

chilly  ride  in  an  open  tram  to  the  town,  they 
took  their  seats  in  the  first-class  compartment  of 
the  tram  going  to  Esperanza,  where  they  were  to 
connect  with  the  train  for  Orizaba.  There  were 
three  cars  going  in  a  group,  two  good-sized  trams 
with  first-  and  second-class  compartments,  ar- 
ranged very  much  like  the  cars  on  European 
trains,  with  the  doors  at  the  sides  and  the  two 
seats  facing  each  other,  but  without  a  sign  of 
upholstery,  not  even  a  cushion.  Then  there  was 
a  little  car  for  third-class  passengers,  which  ran 
behind  the  others,  keeping  close  to  them  for  safety. 

"These  seats  are  pretty  hard  for  a  four-hour 
ride,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens.  "It's  fortunate  that  I 
have  my  big  shawl  where  we  can  get  at  it  easily, 
for  we  can  use  that  for  a  cushion." 

"There's  our  rural!"  exclaimed  Harry;  "the 
man  in  the  grey  uniform  with  the  cartridge-belt 
and  the  holsters;  he  will  ride  with  us  and  there's 
another  one  for  the  car  ahead  of  us." 

"Do  you  suppose  anything  will  happen  to  us?" 
asked  Ray,  a  little  frightened. 

1 '  No,  indeed ;  but  you  see  this  road  runs  through 
a  rather  uninhabited  country,  and  many  people 


320  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

would  not  use  the  tram-line  unless  it  were  made  to 
look  safe.  The  second-class  compartment  is  full 
and  there  are  several  women  and  girls  without 
any  man  to  look  after  them,"  replied  Harry. 

As  he  spoke,  the  door  opened  and  a  Mexican 
gentleman  of  middle  age  got  in,  with  a  general 
"Buenos  diets  (Bway'-nos  dee'.-as :  Good-day)." 
He  was  dressed  in  white  duck,  with  a  fine  silk 
handkerchief  around  his  neck  and  a  handsome 
diamond  ring  on  his  finger.  His  hair  was  very 
grey,  and  he  had  a  nice,  friendly  face  with  a  pair 
of  twinkling  eyes  that  had  plenty  of  fun  in  them. 
His  son,  a  young  fellow  of  twenty,  had  come  to 
see  him  off  for  Vera  Cruz,  and  to  help  him  carry 
his  packages.  These  consisted  of  several  Mexican 
baskets  of  different  shapes,  full  of  things  done  up 
in  paper,  two  bottles  of  wine,  and  a  large  valise. 
It  took  a  long  time  to  get  the  things  safely  stowed 
away  and  they  took  up  all  the  room  under  the 
seats  not  already  taken  by  the  Stevenses'  bags. 
When  the  first  horn  blew  for  starting,  the  young 
fellow  climbed  up  on  the  step  and  he  and  his 
father  threw  their  arms  about  each  other,  patted 
each  other  on  the  back,  and  kissed  each  other  on 


THE  RETURN  JOURNEY  321 

both  cheeks.  Ray  and  her  mother  thought  it  very 
pretty,  but  the  boys  turned  away  to  hide  a  smile. 
They  thought  it  very  poor  taste  for  men  to  show 
their  feelings  in  public. 

"I  dare  say  he's  coming  back  in  two  or  three 
days,"  said  Harry.  "What's  the  use  of  making 
all  that  fuss?  It's  one  of  the  things  I  can't  get 
used  to  here." 

"But  he  might  never  come  back,"  said  Ray, 
"and  then,  you  see,  his  son  would  be  glad  they 
showed  each  other  how  much  they  cared." 

"Well,  you  can  care  without  going  through  all 
that  business,"  said  Roy,  contemptuously;  "it 
isn't  like  men." 

"It  isn't  like  American  men,  you  mean,"  said 
his  mother.  "Remember  that  American  men 
form  only  a  small  proportion  of  all  the  civilised 
men  in  the  world.  Nearl}7  all  other  men — except 
the  British — show  their  affection  for  one  another, 
and  I  must  say  I  like  it." 

"Do  you,  father?"  asked  Ray. 

The  boys  were  quite  surprised  when  Mr.  Stevens 
said  that  he  did,  for  they  had  certainly  expected 
him  to  take  their  view. 


.322  ROY  AND  RAY  IN   MEXICO 

"They  may  not  feel  any  more  than  we  do," 
said  Mr.  Stevens,  "but  it  does  not  mean  that  they 
feel  less,  and  it  certainly  smooths  things  very 
much  to  let  your  friends  and  family  know  oc- 
casionallv  that  vou  do  think  of  them  affection- 
ately;  and  between  father  and  son,  especially 
when  the  father  is  growing  old,  I  think  it  is  really 
very  nice  to  see  some  demonstration  of  feeling." 

"Well,  father,"  said  Roy,  "when  I  see  you 
growing  old,  I'll  begin  to  hug  and  kiss  you  and 
pat  you  on  the  back. ' ' 

"Very  well,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  laughing;  "I'll 
wait  patiently." 

"It'll  be  a  long  time,"  said  Ray,  "so  I'll  do  it 
now,"  and  she  gave  her  father  a  big  squeeze, 
which  made  the  Mexican  gentleman  smile.  He 
could  speak  a  little  English,  too,  it  seemed,  for  he 
said,  "Good,  very  good!" 

The  car  started,  at  last,  with  the  Mexican 
gentleman  at  the  window,  looking  back  and  waving 
his  hand  as  long  as  he  could  see  his  son. 

The  rural  had  taken  his  position  on  the  back 
platform  and  the  long  ride  began.  There  was 
nothing  in  the  scenery  that  was  particularly  in- 


THE  RETURN  JOURNEY  3'2o 

teresting,  though  when  they  stopped  at  the  few 
little  towns  along  the  way,  it  was  entertaining  to 
see  people  get  in  and  out.  At  one  place,  the  rural 
stood  in  the  sunshine  and  Mrs.  Stevens  asked  to 
be  allowed  to  take  his  picture,  whereupon  he  im- 
mediately went  to  get  the  other  rural  and  they 
stood  together,  looking  very  picturesque,  but  un- 
fortunately all  in  vain  as  the  picture  did  not  come 
out  well.  It  was  nearly  noon  when  they  reached 
Esperanza,  a  very  important  point  at  that  time  of 
day,  as  the  trains  between  Vera  Cruz  and  the  city 
of  Mexico  meet  there  and  wait  a  half-hour  for  the 
passengers  to  eat  luncheon  or  dinner.  The  Mexi- 
can gentleman  explained  all  this  to  them  and  con- 
ducted them  to  the  dining-room  of  the  station,  but 
did  not  go  in  himself,  and  they  found  afterward 
that  his  many  baskets  contained  food  for  the 
meals  between  Tehuacan  and  Vera  Cruz.  While 
they  were  eating  at  rather  than  eating  the  some- 
what coarse  food  provided  at  the  station,  the  train 
from  Vera  Cruz  arrived,  and  the  room  was  at  once 
filled  with  the  most  motley  collection  of  human 
beings  they  had  ever  seen  in  one  place.  Indians 
and  Mexicans  and  Spanish.  Germans  and  English. 


324  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

French  and  Swiss,  Canes  and  Austrians  and 
Swedes,  with  some  negroes  and  Chinamen— it 
seemed  as  if  almost  every  race  and  nationality 
were  represented.  Foreign  languages  filled  the 
air. 

"If  they  were  only  piling  bricks  instead  of  eat- 
ing frijoles,  it  would  be  just  like  the  Tower  of 
Babel,"  said  Harry. 

"I  never  imagined,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens,  "that 
immigration  into  Mexico  was  so  varied." 

"Probably  we  have  just  as  many  kinds  coming 
to  us,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  "but  as  we  have  steam- 
ship lines  coming  from  all  countries,  the  emi- 
grants come  on  their  own  national  lines  and  the 
different  nationalities  do  not  get  together  so  much 
as  they  do  here.  Besides,  there  are  so  many  trains 
going  out  from  our  ports  in  every  direction  and 
so' many  emigrants  stop  in  New  York  or  near 
there,  that  we  do  not  see  whole  trainloads  of 
foreigners  as  we  do  here,  where  there  are  only 
two  or  three  trains  a  day  and  where  the  port  re- 
tains very  few  of  the  people  who  land." 

"There  is  our  train!"  exclaimed  Harry,  as  a 
train  drew  up  at  the  station,  headed  toward  the 


THE  REtfURN  JOURNEY  3J.» 

coast.  Another  lot  of  hungry  passengers  now 
entered  the  room,  adding  to  the  confusion,  and  the 
Stevens  party  thought  best  to  go  out  and  take 
their  seats. 

"Take  seats  on  the  right-hand  side,"  said  Mr. 
Stevens;  "that  is  the  scenery  side  going  east,  and 
you  know  this  bit  of  the  road  between  Hsperanza 
and  Orizaba  is  one  of  the  choice  rides  of  the 
country  for  scenery." 

He  spoke  truly,  for  the  person  least  sensitive  to 
natural  beauty  could  not  help  being  enthusiastic 
over  the  wonderful  views  among  the  mountains 
and  valleys  of  this  stretch  of  road.  The  railway 
curves  in  and  out  around  the  slopes  of  the  moun- 
tains, through  tunnels  and  over  heights,  gradu- 
ally descending  from  a  height  of  over  eight 
thousand  feet  to  not  quite  four  thousand  feet  in 
only  twenty-nine  miles.  The  children  craned  their 
necks  out  of  the  windows  and  gazed  in  amazement 
at  the  steep  precipices  along  which  the  train 
rolled,  looking  at  the  track  they  had  just  travelled 
away  behind  and  above  them  and  at  the  track  they 
were  coming  to,  curving  down  below  them  into  the 
valley.    It  seemed  incredible  that  they  could  ever 


326  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

have  been  in  the  one  place  and  that  they  could 
ever  expect  to  be  in  the  other.  The  train  stopped 
at  La  Boca,  to  take  on  water,  and  the  party  all  got 
out  to  take  a  better  view  from  their  narrow  ledge 
of  the  great  mountains  and  of  the  stream  that 
cascaded  down  the  mountain  side  for  over  a 
thousand  feet.  If  they  could  have  stood  outside 
and  seen  their  train  crossing  some  of  the  bridges 
at  these  dizzy  heights,  they  would  certainly  have 
felt  a  little  uneasy.  But  the  place  at  which  the 
boys  and  Ray  grew  most  enthusiastic  was  farther 
on,  at  the  point  where  they  could  look  down  and 
see,  away  below  them  in  the  valley,  the  town  of 
Maltrata,  looking  like  a  toy  village  with  its  dots  of 
red  roofs,  tiny  trees,  and  little  fields  and  gardens 
like  squares  on  a  toy  checkerboard.  It  was  fully 
two  thousand  feet  below  them  and  lay  spread  out 
like  a  map.  They  thought  the  name  of  the  valley, 
La  Joya  (Hoy'-a),  the  jewel,  was  well  given. 

After  this,  they  crossed  a  bridge  a  hundred  and 
forty  feet  high,  over  a  chasm  through  which  a 
great  cascade  went  leaping  down,  and  finally  came 
out  into  the  valley,  with  green  fields  on  either  side 
and  the  mountains  surrounding  them  and  shutting 


THE  RETURN  JOURNEY  327 

off  any   far  view.     The  great  peak  of  Orizaba, 

nearly  eighteen  thousand  feel  high,  with  its 
shining  cap  of  snow,  was  fortunately  visible  when 
the  train  stopped,  but  soon  after  it  was  lost  to 
sight  as  the  daily  rain  grew  nearer.  Indeed,  the 
party  had  just  time  to  get  to  their  hotel  before  the 
rain  came.  Fortunately,  it  did  not  last  long  and 
there  was  time  for  a  short  walk  about  the  streets 
before  dinner,  but  their  real  sightseeing  they 
were  obliged  to  leave  until  the  next  day. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 
ORIZABA  AND  BACK  TO  THE  CAPITAL 

In  the  morning,  the  party  took  a  long  walk  in 
and  out  among  the  streets  and  squares  of  Orizaba, 
a  beautiful  town  in  a  beautiful  situation.  Unlike 
Cuernavaca,  where  one  could  look  off  for  long 
distances,  the  town  was  hemmed  in  closely  by 
mountains,  but  these  in  themselves  were  magnifi- 
cent. It  was  not  so  high  as  most  of  the  places 
they  had  visited,  being  only  a  little  over  four 
thousand  feet  above  sea-level,  but  it  was  high 
enough  to  be  healthful  and  is  often  resorted  to  by 
the  people  of  the  coast  in  times  of  fever.  Many 
foreigners,  landing  at  Vera  Cruz,  do  not  like  to 
stop  there  over  night  and  so  go  up  to  Orizaba  at 
once,  in  order  to  be  perfectly  safe. 

The  hotels  seemed  to  be  nearly  all  on  the  main 
street,  so  that  the  street-cars  drawn  by  mules 
could   take   passengers   to   any  of  them.     There 

328 


BACK  TO  THE  CAPITAL  329 

were  a  few  coaches  in  town  to  be  hired,  but  they 
were  in  a  dreadful  state  of  dilapidation  and 
looked  as  if  they  might  date  from  Maximilian's 
time. 

The  town  itself,  owing  doubtless  to  its  being  on 
the  line  between  Vera  Cruz  and  the  Capital,  and  a 
favourite  stopping-place  for  people  from  other 
countries,  seemed  much  less  Mexican  and  much 
more  European  than  either  Cuernavaca  or 
Oaxaca.  The  people  had  no  distinctive  costume 
and  there  were  fewer  peons  in  the  street,  while 
some  of  the  shops  were  very  up-to-date,  and  many 
of  the  houses,  which  one  could  look  into  through 
the  iron-barred  windows  as  one  went  along,  were 
elegantly  furnished  in  an  entirely  modern  way. 
In  the  public  square  there  was  a  monument  to  the 
killed  and  wounded  in  the  Mexican  War,  and 
another  representing  Father  Hidalgo  pronouncin 
the  Grito. 

At  the  Cathedral,  which  was  on  a  slight  eleva- 
tion above  the  Plaza,  the  children  watched  with 
interest  a  band  of  women  who  were  going  together 
from  one  altar  to  another,  kneeling  to  pray  aloud 
at  each  one.    Thev  wore  a  set  of  narrow  ribbons, 


g 


330  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

red,  white  and  green,  around  their  necks,  tied  at 
the  back,  and  were  evidently  members  of  some 
society.  But  the  thing  that  arrested  their  atten- 
tion next  and  held  it  for  a  long  time  was  a  very 
curious  image  of  St.  Michael. 

"Do  you  suppose  he  looked  like  that  when  he 
went  out  to  slay  the  dragon?"  whispered  Harry, 
laughing. 

"He  is  very  much  dressed  up  in  Guido  Reni's 
painting,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens,  "but  that  is  nothing 
compared  to  this."  And  truly,  that  any  one 
could  have  such  a  conception  of  the  saint  was 
wonderful. 

The  figure  was  apparently  of  wood,  about  two- 
thirds  life  size.  The  head  was  adorned  with  long, 
brown,  very  symmetrical  curls,  topped  by  a  tinsel 
crown  from  which  floated  several  blue  ostrich 
plumes.  The  dress  of  red  silk,  white  lace,  and  gilt, 
was  made  like  that  of  a  ballet-dancer,  low-necked, 
with  elbow  sleeves,  the  skirts  flounced  and  rosetted 
with  lace  and  ribbon.  The  legs  from  the  knee 
halfway  down  were  bare,  showing  the  muscles  of 
knee  and  calf,  and  below  to  a  point  over  the  instep 
were  dressed  in  a  sort  of  silk  buskin  trimmed 


BACK  TO  THE  CAPITAL  331 

with  lace,  imitating  those  in  the  painting.  One 
braceleted  arm  was  extended  while  with  the  other 
hand  the  figure  presented  mincingly  a  pink 
rose. 

"But  look  here!"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Stevens, 
pointing  to  a  small  box  in  front  of  the  figure,  with 
a  slit  for  coins.  "  'Alms  for  St.  Michael!'  Did 
you  ever  see  anything  so  incongruous!" 

"Looks  to  me  as  if  he  were  pretty  well  off 
already,"  said  Roy. 

"I'd  give  him  something  if  I  thought  he  would 
take  off  his  hoops  and  buy  some  goods  to  lengthen 
his  skirts,"  said  Ray. 

"I  suppose  the  country  people  admire  him  ever 
so  much,"  said  Harry,  "but  what  do  they  think  he 
needs  money  for?" 

"Well,  he's  very  much  more  cheerful  than  most 
of  the  images  we  have  seen.  We  may  be  thankful 
for  that,  anyhow,"  remarked  Mr.  Stevens;  "I  feel 
like  giving  him  something  just  for  that." 

"Yes,  these  bleeding,  suffering  images  are 
dreadful— I  suppose  it's  the  Spanish  blood  in  the 
people  that  makes  them  like  that  sort  of  repre- 
sentation," said  Mrs.  Stevens. 


332  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

"And  the  Spaniards  are  very  fond  of  dressing 
up  their  saints  in  gaudy  and  expensive  clothes, 
too,  aren't  they?"  suggested  Harry. 

"Yes,  some  of  them  are  fairly  loaded  with  gold 
and  silver  lace  and  tissue  and  embroidery,"  re- 
plied Mrs.  Stevens. 

From  the  Cathedral,  they  visited  the  market- 
place, where  the  products  were  rather  more 
tropical  than  in  some  others  they  had  visited ;  but 
the  best  part  of  their  sightseeing  was  the  trip  to 
one  of  the  numerous  cascades,  the  road  lying  be- 
tween coffee-groves,  which  almost  surround  the 
town. 

"I  think  coffee  is  as  pretty  as  holly  when  it  is 
growing,"  said  Ray,  and  they  all  agreed  with 
her.  It  looked  very  much  like  holly,  in  fact,  with 
its  stiff,  glossy,  dark  green,  spiny  leaves,  and  its 
berries,  first  green,  then  red,  then  dark  brown. 

"Guess  how  many  coffee-grains  in  a  berry," 
said  Harry. 

"Why,  one,  isn't  that  all?"  asked  Roy. 

"No,  two.  See  here,"  and  Harry  split  open  a 
berry  and  showed  them  the  two  grains  lying  with 
the  flat  sides  touching  and  the  little  groove  through 


HACK  TO  THE  CAPITAL  333 

the  middle  that  they  had  often  noticed  in  the 
grocer's  coffee  at  home. 

"What's  the  reason  their  coffee  doesn't  taste 
like  ours?"  asked  Ray. 

"One  reason  is  that  they  powder  it,  while  we 
grind  it;  and  another,  that  they  like  it  a  little  bit 
burned  and  we  don't  have  it  so.  It  tastes  some- 
what like  Turkish  coffee,  which  is  almost  a 
syrup,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens,  adding,  "Of  course,  I 
mean  the  black  coffee,  without  milk." 

"Is  Orizaba  old,  too?"  asked  Roy. 

"Yes,  it  was  here  before  the  Spanish  came.  It 
was  the  scene  of  some  fighting  in  the  war  against 
the  French,  and  it  was  one  of  the  favourite  resorts 
of  Maximilian,"  replied  his  father. 

"Pooi-  man!  I  get  sorrier  for  him  all  the 
time,"  said  Ray.  "To  lose  such  a  beautiful 
country  when  he  once  had  it,  and  have  to  be  killed 
besides  and  never  see  his  own  country  again." 

"The  French  troops  offered  to  take  him  back 
with  them,  but  he  wouldn't  go,"  said  Mr.  Stevens. 

"Why?" 

"Well,  a  number  of  his  prominent  supporters 
had  been  taken  prisoners  by  the  native  army  and 


334  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

lie  could  not  get  the  promise  of  Juarez  to  pardon 
thero,  so  he  would  not  desert  them.  He  thought 
he  ought  to  stay  on  the  chance  of  being  able  to  do 
something  for  them,  and  if  he  could  not,  that  he 
ought  to  suffer  with  them." 

"There  was  really  something  noble  about  him, 
wasn't  there?"  said  Roy. 

"Yes,  he  was  deceived,  and  almost  as  much  a 
victim  of  Louis  Napoleon  as  the  natives  them- 
selves." 

It  was  with  a  great  deal  of  regret  that  the  party 
left  Orizaba  on  their  return  journey,  not  because 
there  was  so  much  to  see  as  in  some  other  towns, 
but  because  it  was  such  a  beautiful  place  to  rest  in. 

They  found  themselves  travelling  with  a  great 
many  people  who  were  coming  up  from  the 
steamers  at  Vera  Cruz  and  going  to  the  Capital, 
and  after  they  had  been  some  time  in  their  car 
and  heard  a  number  of  conversations  going  on, 
they  estimated  that  there  were  eight  or  nine 
nationalities  represented  in  that  one  car,  not  to 
speak  of  the  rest  of  the  train.  The  men  all 
smoked,  many  of  them  incessantly,  for  one  may 
smoke  anywhere  in  Mexico  except  in  church  or  in 


HACK  TO  THE  CAPITAL  335 

the  theatre  during  the  acts,  and  they  all  talked  as 
incessantly  as  they  smoked.  After  they  had 
crossed  the  mountains  and  were  in  the  low  foot- 
hills, the  train  stopped  in  an  uninhabited  place 
without  any  apparent  reason.  The  party  won- 
dered idly  what  could  be  the  cause,  and  finally 
Harry  and  Roy  went  out  to  see.  They  came  back 
in  a  few  minutes  looking  so  pale  and  subdued 
that  Mrs.  Stevens  immediately  asked  what  had 
happened. 

"We've  just  seen  three  men  shot — three 
Indians,"  said  Harrv. 

"Shot?  Was  the  train  attacked?"  asked  Mr. 
Stevens. 

"Oh,  father!"  exclaimed  Ray,  beginning  to 
tremble. 

"Be  still,  Ray.  Tell  us  about  it,  Harry,  if  you 
can.  I  remember  now  hearing  something  that 
sounded  like  shots.    How  was  it?" 

"We've  had  them  on  the  train  with  us  all 
along,"  said  Harry;  "it  seems  three  Indians 
tried  to  derail  a  train  here  on  this  spot  some  weeks 
ago  and  the  rurales  have  been  looking  for  them 
ever  since.    They  caught  them  yesterday,  and  one 


336  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

confessed  and  they  had  all  the  evidence  they 
needed  that  the  others  were  his  accomplices,  so, 
according  to  the  usual  practice,  the  soldiers 
brought  them  to  the  spot  where  they  committed 
the  crime  and  executed  them  there,  so  that  they 
would  know  what  they  were  being  punished  for." 
"Had  they  not  been  tried? "asked Mrs. Stevens, 
somewhat  disapprovingly. 

"By  the  soldiers,  yes,  but  not  in  court.  It  was 
unnecessary,  since  their  guilt  was  confessed  and 
proven. ' ' 

"Did  they  succeed  in  derailing  a  train?"  asked 
Mr.  Stevens. 

"Yes,  a  freight  train  happened  along  next,  but 
it  might  have  been  a  passenger  train  and  many 
people  might  have  been  killed.  The  men — one  of 
them,  at  least — had  some  grievance  against  the 
railroad  and  took  this  way  to  get  even." 

"I  suppose  they  would  not  understand  a  trial 
in  court,"  said  Mr.  Stevens. 

"No,  and  if  it  dragged  on  a  long  time  they 
would   forget  what   it  was   all   about,  probably. 
They  took  it  pretty  well,  didn't  they,  Roy?" 
"Yes,"  said  Roy;  "they  didn't  make  any  fuss  at 


BACK  TO  THE  CAPITAL  337 

all,  and  the  soldiers  <li<l  not  treat  them  harshly 

either.  They  just  led  them  to  the  place  where 
they  were  to  stand  and  guarded  them  there,  while 
the  other  soldiers  did  the  firing  from  the  train. 
They  were  killed  instantly,  and  fell.  There  was  a 
doctor  who  went  and  examined  them,  and  then  the 
bodies  were  put  on  a  freight-car  and  left  with  a 
guard  for  the  next  train  down  to  carry  them  back 
to  their  own  place." 

"Well,  really,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens,  "if  one  stops 
to  think,  they  have  the  most  sensible  way  of 
punishing,  if  life  is  to  be  taken  at  all." 

"Have  you  noticed  the  way  they  manage  con- 
victs here?"  asked  Harry. 

"Was  it  convicts  we  used  to  see  at  Cuernavaca, 
marching  through  the  streets  every  day  with  the 
soldiers?"  asked  Ray. 

"Yes,  those  were  convicts  from  the  state's 
prison.  You  know  Cuernavaca  is  the  state  capital 
and  they  were  working  on  the  new  park  the  town 
is  laying  out.  Every  man  has  a  soldier  to  guard 
him." 

"That  is  why  they  have  no  handcuffs,  or  ball 
and  chain  on  the  legs,  then,"  said  Roy. 


338  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

1  'Yes,  that  is  why  I  thought  they  could  not  be 
convicts,"  said  Ray. 

' '  They  never  handcuff  them  here, ' '  said  Harry, 
"but  each  man  has  his  keeper  among  the  soldiers, 
and  if  the  man  tries  to  escape  the  keeper  has  his 
gun  in  plain  sight,  ready  for  use." 

"Seems  to  me  it's  harder  on  the  soldier  than  on 
the  convict,  to  have  to  sit  all  day  in  the  sun  with 
nothing  to  do  but  keep  your  eye  on  one  man,"  said 
Roy. 

"They  rig  up  little  tents  of  those  grass  mats, 
for  shade,"  said  Harry,  "and  it's  cool  and 
pleasant  up  on  the  hills.  But,  of  course,  they  can 
never  think  of  anything  but  the  one  thing  they 
have  to  do." 

"One  evening,"  said  Ray,  "when  they  were 
coming  back  to  the  prison,  I  saw  some  children 
run  out  from  one  of  the  houses  and  kiss  one  of 
the  men — I  suppose  he  was  their  father.  The 
guards  didn't  seem  to  mind,  because  they  had  all 
halted  anyhow,  to  rest." 

"The  soldiers  are  very  humane,  as  a  rule,"  said 
Harry,  "and  the  town  police  are  generally  pretty 
good  to  the  people." 


a  i 


BACK  TO  THE  CAPITAL  33(J 

That  reminds  me,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens,  "of 
something  I  saw  in  Cuernavaca,  one  day.  Two 
women  met  under  my  balcony,  a  young  one  and  a 
middle-aged  one,  and  spoke  together  in  a  low  tone 
for  a  half-minute.  And  suddenly  the  older  one 
brought  down  the  jar  she  was  carrying,  with  all 
her  force,  on  the  other  one's  head,  breaking  the 
jar  to  bits.  Then  she  slapped  her  across  the  face 
with  the  palm  of  her  hand,  and  the  other  one  stood 
still  and  took  it  without  a  word,  though  it  must 
have  hurt  her  dreadfully.  I  expected  to  see  a 
crowd  gather  and  the  police  come  running  up  with 
their  clubs,  but  only  a  solitary  officer  came  slowly 
up  and  spoke  a  few  words  in  a  low  voice,  after  the 
woman  had  made  her  explanation,  and  ordered 
them  to  move  on.  They  separated,  and  none  of 
the  people  who  saw  it  paid  any  attention." 

"They  were  mother  and  daughter,  probably," 
said  Harry.  "The  parents  have  the  right  to  cor- 
rect their  children  even  after  they  are  grown,  and 
I  suppose  the  girl  had  been  doing  something  her 
mother  didn't  approve  of." 

"Imagine  your  doing  that  to  me,  mother,  even 
now  when  1  am  not  grown  up,"  said  Kay,  shaking 


340  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

her  head.     "I  like  American  mothers'  ways  the 
best." 

The  train  had  begun  to  move,  and  the  pas- 
sengers, most  of  whom  had  gone  out  to  see  the 
execution  or  to  hear  about  it,  came  back  to  their 
seats.  The  boys  were  very  quiet — it  had  been  a 
serious  experience  for  them,  and  they  did  not  re- 
cover their  spirits  until  they  had  nearly  reached 
the  Capital. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 
NORTHWARD  TO  GUANAJUATO 

The  City  of  Mexico  seemed  very  familiar  as 
they  came  into  it  for  the  second  time  and  recog- 
nised various  landmarks.  As  for  Harry,  though 
he  had  had  a  very  delightful  trip,  he  was  glad  to 
be  at  home  again,  for  so  much  of  his  life  had  been 
spent  there  that  no  place  in  the  United  States 
would  have  seemed  to  him  as  much  like  home  as 
this  foreign  city.  His  mother  met  the  train  and 
he  parted  from  the  Stevenses  with  many  promises 
to  exchange  letters  with  the  children.  He  was  not 
likely  to  see  them  again,  for  they  were  to  start  on 
their  journey  north  the  next  day  but  one. 

"Now,  we  have  a  friend  in  Mexico!"  said  Ray, 
with  great  satisfaction,  as  they  rode  to  the  hotel, 
"and  we'll  be  getting  letters  with  Mexican  stamps 
on  them.  You  can  do  a  lot  of  trading  with  them, 
Roy,  for  your  stamp  collection." 

"Yes,  we've  made  arrangements  to  exchange 

341 


342  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

duplicates,  too,"  said  Roy.  "Harry's  father  gets 
all  kinds  of  South  American  and  Central  Ameri- 
can stamps  and  he's  going  to  send  me  some  for 
my  European  duplicates." 

The  next  day  was  spent  in  packing  for  the  long 
northern  journey  with  only  two  stops,  at  Guana- 
juato (Gwan-a-wah'-to)  and  Chihuahua.  The 
family  haunted  the  curio  shops,  buying  photo- 
graphs and  all  sorts  of  Mexican  souvenirs,  "be- 
cause," said  Ray,  "the  girls  won't  believe  some 
of  the  things  I  tell  them  unless  I  have  something 
to  show  to  prove  it."  She  was  buying  a  little  clay 
model  of  the  cooking-stove  used  by  the  peons,  as 
she  spoke. 

"Besides,"  said  Roy,  "it  will  make  things  much 
easier  for  you  to  explain." 

The  train  for  the  United  States  in  which  they 
had  decided  to  go,  left  the  city  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, as  usual,  and  their  first  stop  was  to  be  at 
Silao,  where  they  were  to  take  a  branch  road  for 
Marfil,  and  there  a  mule-tram  with  four  mules,  for 
Guanajuato. 

"It  seems  a  very  hard  place  to  get  to,"  said 
Roy.    "What  makes  it  important?" 


NORTHWARD  TO  (il'AN A.H'ATO         343 

"We  are  going  there  because  it  is  so  very  pic- 
turesque and  unusual,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  "but 
the  importance  of  the  town  lies  in  the  fact  that  it 
is  in  one  of  the  richest  silver-mining  districts  in 
the  world  and  that  there  are  very  extensive  works 
for  the  reducing  of  silver — taking  it  from  the  ores 
— between  Marfil  and  Guanajuato.  The  mines 
were  discovered  in  1548  by  two  muleteers,  and  up 
to  this  time  over  one  thousand  million  dollars' 
worth  of  ore  have  been  taken  from  them.  The 
Mint  is  one  of  the  most  important  in  Mexico." 

"Shall  we  go  to  it?"  asked  Kay. 

"Yes,  if  we  have  time.  I  understand  that  one 
could  stay  for  a  week  or  ten  days  in  Guanajuato 
without  exhausting  the  interests  of  the  place,  and 
as  we  have  only  two  days  we  shall  have  to  make 
pretty  good  use  of  our  time." 

The  road  they  were  travelling  ran  through 
several  very  interesting  places — that  is,  they 
looked  so  from  a  distance,  for  the  towns  were 
usually  at  some  distance  from  the  stations.  First, 
there  was  the  great  Tajo  de  Nochistongo  (Ta'-ho 
day  No-chis-ton'-go),  the  drainage  canal  begun  in 
1G07  to  drain  the  Valley  of  Mexico,  and  abandoned 


344  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

after  years  of  work  and  much  expense.  Fifteen 
thousand  Indians  were  employed  on  this  work,  in 
its  early  days.  It  is  from  a  hundred  and  fifty  to 
two  hundred  feet  deep  and  ranges  in  width  from 
three  hundred  to  seven  hundred  feet  at  the  top, 
and  slopes  to  a  very  few  feet  at  the  bottom,  to 
prevent  the  caving-in  of  the  sides.  The  waters  of 
the  valley  were  finally  carried  off  by  a  tunnel  to 
the  eastward  of  the  city.  "It  looks  now  just  like 
a  big,  natural  barranca,"  said  Roy. 

The  town  of  Queretaro  the  children  watched 
for  eagerly,  knowing  that  it  was  the  town  where 
Maximilian  and  his  generals  were  imprisoned  and 
executed.  They  could  see  only  at  a  distance  the 
domes  and  spires  of  the  town,  among  the  green  of 
the  orange-  and  lemon-trees,  but  the  conductor 
pointed  out  to  them  the  low  hill,  called  the  Hill  of 
the  Bells,  where  the  execution  took  place. 

"There  is  a  pretty  story  of  the  founding  of 
the  Church  of  Santa  Cruz  (the  Holy  Cross),  at 
Queretaro,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens,  as  the  train  moved 
away  from  the  station.  "It  seems  that  a  great 
chief  came  determined  to  convert  the  Indians  to 
Christianity,  the  matter  to  be  decided  by  fighting. 


NORTHWARD  TO  GUANAJUATO        345 

If  he  won,  the  people  were  to  declare  themselves 
converted  and  were  to  be  baptised;  if  they  won, 
they  were  to  be  at  liberty  to  remain  heathen. 
While  the  battle  was  going  on,  however,  the  sky 
was  overshadowed  by  clouds  and  in  the  midst 
appeared  Saint  Iago  with  a  cross  of  fire.  This 
miracle  at  once  decided  the  Indians  to  yield,  and 
the  Church  of  the  Holy  Cross  was  afterward  built 
in  memory  of  it." 

"How  many  miracles  they  had  in  those  days!" 
said  Ray.  "Almost  every  town  has  some  story. 
It  makes  the  United  States  seem  very  bare." 

"Bare?  What  do  you  mean  by  that?"  asked 
Roy. 

"Why — "  hesitated  Ray — "just  bare — with- 
out any  pretty  things  to  make  the  history  in- 
teresting." 

"Just  'dry  so,'  as  they  say  in  Texas,  eh?" 
suggested  Mr.  Stevens. 

"Yes,"  said  Ray.  "Of  course,  we  know  they 
aren't  true,  but  all  the  same  it's  nice  to  hear  them 
and  to  think  there  are  still  some  people  that  be- 
lieve them." 

Just    here,    a    fellow-passenger   came   to   show 


346  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

tliem  some  opals  he  had  bought  at  the  station,  and 
they  all  put  their  heads  together  to  examine  the 
beautiful,  little  stones  in  which  fiery  and  milky 
lights  mingle  with  pale  blue  and  green  to  make 
one  of  the  most  fascinating  gems  we  have. 

At  Celaya  (Ce-lah'-ya),  Mr.  Stevens  bought  a 
box  of  the  dukes  (sweet-meats)  for  which  the 
place  is  celebrated,  and  at  Irapuato  (Ee-ra-pwah'- 
to)  a  basket  of  the  famous  strawberries  which  are 
produced  there  all  the  year  around.  They  were 
very  glad  they  had  not  paid  the  price  first  de- 
manded for  these,  when  they  came  to  examine  the 
basket  and  found  that  the  best  berries  were 
ranged  on  top,  while  below  they  were  much 
smaller  and  poorer. 

It  was  almost  dark  when  they  reached  Silao, 
where  they  were  to  take  the  train  for  Marfil,  but 
there  was  enough  light  to  see  that  they  were 
riding  through  a  very  hilly  and  picturesque  coun- 
try. When  they  had  finished  this  little  eleven-mile 
journey,  they  found  several  trams  awaiting  them, 
labelled  first-,  second-,  and  third-class,  and  each 
drawn  by  four  mules.  The  car  they  entered  was 
nearly  full  of  Mexicans  of  the  better  class,  but 


NORTHWARD  TO  GUANAJUATO        347 

there  were  two  or  three  young  Americans  who 
were  in  business  connected  with  the  mines  or  the 
railway,  and  Mr.  Stevens  soon  entered  into  con- 
versation with  them. 

Meanwhile,  the  children's  eyes  grew  bigger  and 
rounder  as  the  cars  climbed  the  hills  and  they  saw 
the  lights  of  houses  twinkling  above  them  on 
every  side  at  what  seemed  impossible  heights. 
They  could  hardly  wait  until  daylight  to  find  out 
just  what  sort  of  place  they  were  in.  A  boy  from 
the  hotel  boarded  the  car  when  they  reached  the 
limits  of  the  city,  and  took  charge  of  their  bag- 
gage; and  his  smiling  welcome  quite  cheered  up 
Mrs.  Stevens,  who  thought  they  were  getting  into 
a  very  remote  and  foreign  and  desolate  district, 
where  they  might  all  be  robbed  and  possibly  put 
out  of  the  way  entirely. 

The  car  stopped  in  the  Plaza,  which  was  rather 
dimly  lighted  and  where  they  could  just  see 
vaguely  the  outlines  of  the  opera-house  and  other 
surrounding  buildings,  and  a  few  steps  brought 
them  to  the  street  on  which  their  hotel  was  situ- 
ated. It  seemed  like  a  tunnel,  for  it  was  vaulted 
over  the  whole  length  of  the  block,  and  the  one  or 


348  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

two  lamps  suspended  at  the  sides  served  only  to 
"make  the  darkness  visible."  There  seemed  to 
be  no  ground-floor  to  the  hotel  at  all,  and  a  short 
flight  of  winding  steps  brought  them  to  the  office, 
which  was  a  little  cubby-hole  off  the  dining-room, 
while  the  bedrooms,  on  the  same  floor,  were 
ranged  around  a  square  patio.  The  ceilings 
were  so  high  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the 
rooms  that  it  was  like  living  in  a  tower,  the  chil- 
dren thought. 

Supper  was  over,  but  the  young  man  who  had 
brought  them  found  some  bread  and  butter  and 
cold  meat,  cake  and  tea,  to  satisfy  their  hunger, 
and  after  they  had  paid  due  attention  to  their 
appetites  they  went  to  their  rooms.  The  children 
had  adjoining  rooms  opening  upon  the  same 
balcony,  and  before  going  to  bed  they  opened  the 
long  door-like  windows  and  stepped  out  to  look  at 
the  street  and  to  hear  a  guitar  serenade  that  was 
going  on  near  by.  A  building  nearly  opposite  was 
lighted  up,  for  it  was  not  yet  nine  o'clock,  and  they 
could  see  that  there  were  maps  and  charts  on  the 
walls,  a  globe  in  one  corner,  and  that  the  furniture 
consisted  of  desks  at  which  men  seemed  to  be  at 


NORTHWARD  TO  GUANAJUATO       349 

work.  Presently,  at  some  unknown  signal,  the 
men  all  disappeared,  the  lights  went  out,  and  in  a 
moment  more  men  and  young  boys  wrapped  in 
serapes  turned  the  corner  and  separated,  going 
off  by  different  ways,  in  groups  or  alone,  all  very 
quietly. 

"Do  you  suppose  it  was  a  secret  meeting?  Are 
they  conspirators.'"  whispered  Ray,  as  a  solitary 
figure  passed  under  the  balcony. 

"Looks  queer,  doesn't  it!"  said  Roy;  "but  they 
can't  be  conspirators,  because  they  would  have 
had  the  blinds  down.  The  room  looks  like  a 
schoolroom." 

And  in  the  morning  they  found  that  it  was  a 
schoolroom,  and  that  in  the  evening  the  school 
was  for  men  and  boys  who  had  to  earn  their  living 
during  the  day. 

"I  suppose  they're  too  tired  to  make  a  noise, 
by  the  time  they  have  worked  all  day  and  studied 
all  the  evening,"  said  Bay,  "but  that  isn't  the 
way  they  come  out  of  school  in  our  country. 


?  * 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

GUANAJUATO,  HILL  OF  THE  FROGS 

When  the  family  came  to  breakfast  the  next 
morning,  they  came  convinced  that  they  were 
going  to  like  Guanajuato  and  find  it  most  inter- 
esting, for  they  had  caught  glimpses  of  the  high 
hills  on  which  the  native  houses  were  perched  like 
birdhouses,  with  winding  steps  ascending  in  every 
direction.  Some  streets,  in  fact,  were  all  steps, 
and  the  small  houses  often  could  not  find  a  level 
spot  to  stand  on  and  so  accommodated  themselves 
to  the  incline  of  the  hills.  Mr.  Stevens'  plan  was 
to  go  to  the  Plaza  around  the  corner  of  the  hotel 
and  take  the  tram  that  went  up  to  the  top  of  the 
town,  the  Presa  de  la  Olla  (Pray'-sa  day  la  Oy'-ya) 
or  reservoir.  They  were  assured  that  in  this  way 
they  would  see  the  best  residences  and  get  the 
best  general  view  of  the  situation  of  the  town. 
The  Plaza,  or  Jardin  de  la  Union  (Har-deen'  day 
la  Oo-nion')  was  the  starting-place  of  the  only  two 

350 


GUANAJUATO,  HILL  OF  THE  FROGS      351 

car-lines,  the  one  going  back  to  Marfil  and  the 
other  going  up  to  the  Alameda  and  the  Presa. 
Each  car  had  four  mules  for  the  ascent  on  account 
of  the  hard  grade.  The  people  who  went  up  to 
the  Alameda  were,  as  a  rule,  of  the  better  class  of 
citizens  who  either  lived  or  had  business  to  trans- 
act in  the  best  quarter.  The  party  did  not  do 
much  talking  on  the  way  up,  except  to  exclaim 
occasionally,  "Oh,  what  a  lovely  cottage!"  "See 
that  beautiful  bougainvillea  climbing  all  over  that 
house!"  "Look  at  that  little  house  with  a  moat 
and  a  bridge!"  "See,  Roy,  you  could  fish  right 
out  of  the  window  if  you  lived  there!"  "What  a 
beautiful  garden!"  "Oh,  mother,  wouldn't  you 
like  to  live  in  that  great,  handsome  house  with  all 
those  verandahs  and  flowers!"  Their  eyes  were 
fully  occupied  all  the  way  and  by  the  time  they 
reached  the  little  park  where  the  band  was 
accustomed  to  play  in  the  evening,  the  children 
had  decided  that  they  would  not  mind  at  all 
having  to  live  in  Guanajuato. 

"It's  the  prettiest  town  we  have  seen  yet,"  said 
Ray,  positively. 

"Prettier  than  Cuernavaca?"  asked  her  mother. 


352  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

"Well,  no,  nothing  could  be  prettier  than  Cuer- 
navaca,  but  it's  more — more — what  is  the  word  I 
want?" 

"More  picturesque,  perhaps — more  unusual." 

'Yes,  that's  it.  It  would  make  better  pictures. 
I  saw  a  lady  making  pictures  as  we  came  up  the 
hill." 

"Yes,  so  did  I,"  said  Roy;  "I  think  she's  stay- 
ing at  our  hotel.  She  had  a  whole  crowd  of  chil- 
dren around  her  and  some  grown  people." 

"We  must  meet  her  and  find  out  what  she  is 
painting,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens.  "Perhaps  she  has 
something  we  can  take  home  with  us  to  remember 
the  place  by." 

"Yes,  and  show  the  others  what  it  looks  like 
here,  because  I  don't  see  how  we  could  tell  any- 
body," said  Roy. 

At  the  Alameda,  the  car  stopped  and  the  family 
got  out  and  walked  through  the  long,  narrow 
garden  that  occupied  the  middle  of  the  street  and 
that  was  full  of  trees  and  vines  and  fountains, 
with  seats  here  and  there.  They  climbed  a  little 
further  to  the  reservoir,  which  was  really  like  a 
small  lake,  with  pretty  cottages  on  its  margin,  and 


GUANAJUATO,  HILL  OF  THE  FROGS      353 

from  there  they  had  a  wonderful  view  of  the  town 
and  surrounding  country.     Great  hills  surround 

the  town,  and  as  it  has  grown  it  has  stretched  up 
the  elei'ts  of  these  hills  in  every  direction,  like  a 
vine  throwing  out  branches  and  clutching  for  sup- 
port on  all  sides.  The  walk  downhill  was  full  of 
little  incidents — beautiful  Mexican  ladies  chatting 
and  examining  the  condition  of  their  flowers,  a 
little  beggar  girl  with  her  dog  crouching  in  the 
corner  of  one  of  the  picturesque  gateways;  the 
tiny  houses  which  were  also  shops,  opened  on 
the  street,  sometimes  a  step  or  two  below  it,  where 
shoemakers  and  other  workmen  carried  on  their 
work  in  the  doorway  in  order  to  get  the  necessary 
light  and  perhaps  to  see  what  was  passing.  They 
saw  no  houses,  though,  as  "deep"  as  some  at 
Cuernavaca,  where  a  flight  of  stairs  often  led 
from  the  street  down  into  the  living-room. 

When  they  reached  the  Jardin  de  la  Union,  they 
had  still  time  before  dinner  to  go  into  the  opera- 
house,  which  is  one  of  the  finest  on  the  con- 
tinent. It  is  called  the  Theatre  Juarez.  Two 
great  stone  lions  sat  on  pedestals  halfway  up  the 
entrance  steps,  which  led  to  a  great  portico  with 


354  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

handsome  stone  columns;  these  and  the  buildings 
having  the  green  tinge  peculiar  to  the  stone  of 
the  hills  roundabout  the  town.  The  interior  was 
very  rich  and  imposing,  with  the  railings  painted 
in  pale  tints  of  pink  and  blue,  the  box  curtains  of 
silk-velvet,  and  the  seats  in  the  foyer,  where 
people  promenade  between  the  acts,  of  red  velvet 
embroidered  in  gold.  The  chandeliers  of  coloured 
glass  came  from  Paris,  the  custodian  told  them. 
He  was  evidently  very  proud  of  the  house  and 
very  careful  of  it.  All  the  handsome  furniture 
was  covered,  and  he  had  to  lift  up  the  covers  to 
show  its  gorgeousness. 

"I  don't  see,"  said  Roy,  "how  people  as  poor 
as  most  of  these  can  have  such  a  fine  theatre. 
How  could  they  afford  to  build  it  and  how  can 
they  afford  to  go  to  anything  that  costs  money?" 

"My  impression  is  that  either  the  general 
government  or  the  state  builds  these  principal 
theatres  and  opera-houses,  as  they  do  in  Europe, 
and  subsidises  them,  that  is,  gives  them  so  much 
money  a  year,  for  running  expenses,"  said  Mr. 
Stevens. 

"I  don't  suppose  they  often  have  expensive 


GUANAJUATO,  HILL  OF  THE  FROGS      355 

entertainments  here,"  remarked  Mrs.  Stevens, 
"for  I  noticed  that  at  Cuernavaca  and  Oaxaca  the 
principal  entertainments  were  cinematograph 
shows.  The  Capital,  of  course,  has  excellent 
companies  from  Europe  for  both  dramatic  and 
operatic  performances." 

In  the  afternoon,  the  party  wandered  about  the 
streets,  finding  nothing  that  could  equal  in  interest 
the  people  themselves.  The  market-place  spread 
out  into  numerous  little  by-streets,  as  apparently 
fruit  and  vegetables  were  the  only  things  sold  in 
the  central  stone  market-house.  The  children  were 
interested  in  some  little  red  balls  that  looked  like 
beets  and  turned  out  to  be  part  of  a  kind  of  cactus. 
The  people  bought  them  to  eat,  evidently.  One 
thing  Ray  thought  she  must  have,  a  toy  chair  four 
or  five  inches  high  with  a  woven  seat,  in  imitation 
of  the  low  seats  used  by  the  market-women. 

"I  never  saw  so  many  people  with  nothing  to 
do,  even  at  Cuernavaca,"  said  Roy,  as  they 
passed  a  long  row  of  women  sitting  on  the  ground 
beside  a  high  wall,  wrapped  in  their  rebozos, 
talking  very  little,  and  apparently  engaged  in 
nothing    more    profitable    than    gazing    at     the 


356  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

passers-by.  As  they  were  almost  opposite  the 
city  prison,  it  is  possible  that  they  were  there  ou 
the  chance  of  seeing  a  friend  or  relative  who  was 
among  the  prisoners;  but  in  various  parts  of  the 
town  the  family  afterward  noticed  the  same  habit 
of  sitting  on  the  ground  in  long,  silent  rows. 

''Look,  children,  there  is  something  we  have 
always  wanted  to  see  and  have  never  come  across 
before,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  calling  their  attention 
to  the  curbstone  opposite  the  other  end  of  the 
jail. 

"It's  those  letter-writing  men!"  exclaimed 
Ray,  and  the  whole  family  stood  and  gazed,  quite 
forgetful  of  their  manners.  Ranged  along  the 
curbstone  were  seated  several  men  of  various 
ages,  each  with  a  little  low  table  or  desk  in  front 
of  him,  with  writing  materials  on  it,  and  along- 
side each  man  sat  a  client  dictating  a  letter.  It 
was  done  in  such  a  low  voice  that  no  bystander 
could  hear,  and  some  of  the  customers  seemed  to 
find  it  almost  as  impossible  to  find  words  as  to 
write  them.  When  a  letter  was  finished,  the  peon 
took  his  envelope  with  its  enclosure,  paid  his  fee — 
according  to   the  length   of   the   letter — and   de- 


GUANAJUATO,  HILL  OF  THE  FROGS      357 

parted.  There  wore  several  women  sitting  on  a 
doorstep  Dear  by,  evidently  awaiting  their  turn. 

"It's  almost  as  good  as  having  a  stenog- 
rapher," said  Roy,  and  Kay  sighed,  "I  wish  I 
could  pay  somebody  to  write  my  letters — I  do 
hate  to  do  it  myself." 

"They  say,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens,  "that  the  work 
of  the  professional  letter-writer  is  disappearing, 
now  that  the  children  are  being  educated,  and  the 
boys  and  girls  write  the  family-letters." 

"I've  noticed  several  times,"  said  Roy,  "young 
people  sitting  on  the  doorsteps  writing  and  the 
family  all  sitting  around  inside — I  suppose  they 
were  telling  them  what  to  say." 

"Have  you  noticed  that  the  women  here  wear 
gowns  more  like  those  of  the  same  class  with  us?" 
said  Mrs.  Stevens.  "I  have  seen  a  number  of 
ready-made  print  gowns." 

"Yes,  and  the  men  nearly  all  wear  heavy  blan- 
kets instead  of  serapes.  I  suppose  it  is  colder 
here  than  anywhere  else  we  have  been,"  replied 
Mr.  Stevens.  Suddenly  stopping  short,  he  said, 
"Let's  go  in  here,  it's  the  government  pawn- 
shop." 


358  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

"What's  that?"  asked  Ray. 

"A  place  established  by  the  government  in 
every  city  where  the  people  can  pawn  things  when 
necessary,  at  a  reasonable  rate.  See  this  poor 
woman ! ' ' 

A  very  shabby-looking  woman,  with  a  little 
child,  came  in  and  deposited  a  pair  of  flat- 
irons. 

"She  must  make  her  living  with  those — I  sup- 
pose she  is  a  laundress,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens,  look- 
ing at  her  husband  and  lifting  her  eyebrows  in- 
quiringly. He  caught  her  meaning  at  once  and 
nodded  with  a  smile,  and  after  asking  how  much 
the  woman  was  to  get  for  the  irons,  Mrs.  Stevens 
gently  put  the  sum  in  her  hand  and  pushed  the 
flat-irons  back  to  her.  The  gloomy  face  lighted  up 
first  with  surprise  and  then  with  pleasure  and 
gratitude,  and  stammering  her  thanks  the  woman 
bade  the  child  also  say" Gracias ,  gracias ,  senora! ' 
and  hurried  out,  hugging  her  flat-irons.  Just  here 
a  young  fellow  came  in  to  pawn  his  serape. 

"Are  you  going  to  give  him  something,  too?" 
asked  Roy. 

"No,  indeed — he  is  young  and  able-bodied  and 


GUANAJUATO,  HILL  OF  THE  FROGS   359 

probably  pawns  his  blanket  to  get  rid  of  carrying 
it  all  day,  or  to  get  money  for  pulque  (pul'-kay: 
liquor  made  from  the  maguey),  or  for  gambling," 
said  Mr.  Stevens. 

"But,  Horace,"  said  Mrs.  Stevens  in  a  low  tone, 
"just  look  at  that  serape — it's  dingy,  but  it's  one 
of  those  beautiful  old  weaves  and  patterns  that 
are  getting  so  scarce.  Do  you  think  I  might  ask 
him  to  sell  it?  I  could  have  it  disinfected  and 
cleaned  and  it  would  make  a  handsome  table-cover 
or  couch-cover." 

"Try  him  and  see,"  advised  Mr.  Stevens. 

At  first  the  man  did  not  understand, — then  he  re- 
fused,— but  the  sight  of  the  silver  in  Mr.  Stevens' 
hand  decided  him,  and  he  finally  parted  with  his 
old  serape  for  enough  to  buy  two  blankets,  and  evi- 
dently thought  he  had  much  the  best  of  the 
bargain.  Mrs.  Stevens  was  equally  pleased,  for 
she  said  she  had  seen  exactly  the  same  quality  in 
the  shops  of  the  Capital  for  which  large  sums  were 
asked.  The  pawnbroker  offered  to  wrap  up  the 
serape,  which  was  quite  kind  of  him  as  they  had 
just  deprived  him  of  two  customers,  and  the  party 
took  up  their  line  of  march  again,  congratulating 


300  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

themselves  on  having  gone  into  the  shop  at  just 
the  right  moment. 

"Aren't  we  going  into  the  jail?"  asked  Roy, 
anxiously.  "This  is  where  Father  Hidalgo  was 
imprisoned,  isn't  it!" 

' '  Not  exactly.  He  captured  it  early  in  the  war, 
and  afterward  when  he  was  caught  and  executed, 
with  his  fellow-patriots,  their  heads  were  brought 
here  and  exposed  outside  the  prison,  hanging  on 
great  hooks  from  the  wall  just  under  the  roof. 
You  can  see  their  names  now,  over  the  places 
where  the  heads  were  exhibited." 

The  children  looked  up  and  read  "Allende  (Al- 
yen'-de),"  "Aldama,"  "Jiminez  (Him'-i-nez)," 
and  "Hidalgo,"  and  under  the  last  name  the 
great  hook  was  still  visible. 

"Ugh,"  said  Ray,  with  a  shudder.  "I'm  afraid 
I'll  dream  about  it." 

"There's  a  very  interesting  story  of  the  cap- 
ture of  the  building,"  remarked  Mr.  Stevens. 
"Some  one  was  wanted  to  set  fire  to  the  doors, 
but  as  the  walls  were  closely  guarded  and  the 
building  defended  by  missiles  from  the  top,  it  was 
a  risky  thing  to  undertake,  and  Hidalgo  called  for 


GUANAJUATO,  HILL  OF  THE  FROGS      3G1 

volunteers.  A  peon  offered  his  services,  pro- 
tected his  back  with  a  wide  slab  of  stone,  and 
taking  a  torch  ran  up  to  the  great  doors  and  set 
them  on  fire.  Once  the  attacking  party  were  in- 
side, they  drove  the  royalists  to  the  roof  and  cap- 
tured them.  There  is  a  statue  of  this  hero  in  the 
prison,  and  we'll  see  it  if  we  may  go  in  and  look 
at  it." 

The  guard  made  no  objection  when  they  entered. 
In  the  entrance  corridor  against  the  wall  lay  a  row 
of  guards  asleep,  being  off  duty  yet  required  to  be 
on  the  premises.  In  the  dark  corners  of  the 
rooms  they  passed  through,  some  slight  noise  or 
a  sudden  movement  called  their  attention  to  cer- 
tain old  people  who  were  allowed  to  beg  there  or 
who  were  waiting  to  see  prisoners.  Finally,  in  a 
corner,  protected  by  a  grating,  they  found  the 
statue — not  a  work  of  art,  but  interesting  on 
account  of  the  legend.  The  figure  wore  the  som- 
brero and  sandals, a  workman's  apron, and  carried 
a  gun  strapped  across  the  front. 

''If  they  had  statues  to  all  the  heroes  in  that 
war,  they  would  be  pretty  well  supplied  with 
statues,"  said  Roy,  admiringly. 


362  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

On  their  way  to  the  hotel  they  passed  a  school- 
building  where  some  singing — the  closing  exercise 
— was  going  on.  Ray  told  her  father  about  the  con- 
spirators and  the  night-school,  and  he  said  that 
there  were  night-schools  in  most  of  the  cities.  The 
children  remembered  then  that  they  had  seen  a 
school  in  Oaxaca  which  they  were  told  was  open  in 
the  evenings  for  grown  people.  And  in  Cuer- 
navaca  they  had  visited  a  very  well-attended 
kindergarten.  Roy  and  Ray  had  never  supposed 
that  they  would  be  so  interested  in  the  schools  of 
a  country  as  they  found  themselves  in  those  of 
Mexico,  and  they  realised  now  more  clearly  than 
ever  the  great  work  that  President  Diaz  had  done 
for  the  country  in  establishing  and  promoting 
education  of  all  grades  and  kinds. 


CHAPTER  XXX 
MORE  GUANAJUATO 

The  next  morning  Mr.  Stevens  look  Roy  and 
Ray  to  the  Mint,  Mrs.  Stevens  preferring  to  stay 
at  the  hotel  until  they  were  ready  to  go  over  to 
the  western  part  of  the  town,  when  they  were  to 
call  for  her. 

The  silver  reduction-works  are  all  along  the 
road  from  Marfil  to  Guanajuato,  the  mines  being 
some  distance  off  among  the  hills,  and  the  ore  is 
carried  to  the  works  on  burros.  There  is  one  mine 
called  the  Valencia,  which  is  reached  by  trail  only, 
though  there  is  a  car-track  belonging  to  the  mine 
going  part  of  the  way  out.  This  is  an  old  mine 
and  the  works  are  like  a  fortress,  as  they  were 
built  in  the  days  of  the  bandits.  The  mine  was 
furnished  with  a  great  bell  with  which  to  summon 
help  from  the  town  in  time  of  need,  as  in  former 
times  the  trains  of  mules  carrying  bullion  were 
often  attacked. 

363 


364  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

"Where  did  these  bandits  come  from?  Who 
were  they?"  asked  Ray. 

"I  am  sorry  to  say  they  often  belonged  to  very 
good  families,"  replied  Mr.  Stevens,  "for  it 
seemed  to  be  considered  no  disgrace  to  rob  and 
plunder  provided  one  were  not  found  out.  They 
tell  a  story  of  a  hold-up  in  this  region  in  the  old 
stage-line  days,  and  of  the  capture  of  the  bandits 
after  a  sharp  skirmish  in  which  eleven  of  them 
were  killed.  By  a  curious  coincidence,  there  were 
several  funerals  in  some  very  reputable  families 
just  about  that  time.  It  would  be  interesting  to 
trace  the  profession  of  the  brigand  back  to  its 
origin,  and  find  out  why  he  has  such  a  reputation 
with  the  people  and  where  the  glamour  comes 
from  that  seems  always  to  be  thrown  around  his 
adventures." 

"Are  there  many  Americans  here?"  asked  Roy. 

"About  a  hundred,  I  am  told — chiefly  young 
men  working  in  connection  with  the  mines  or  the 
railroads.  It  must  be  pretty  forlorn  for  them 
here,  with  so  few  American  families  and  homes." 

"The  painting  lady  told  mother  that  one  young 
man  came  up  while  she  was  painting  one  day  and 


MORE  GUANAJUATO  365 

said,  'Do  von  mind  if  I  watch  you  awhile.'  I'm 
just  so  lonesome,  I  don't  know  what  to  do.'  So  he 
sat  down  and  talked  to  her  a  long  time  and  told 
her  all  about  himself." 

"I  wish  there  could  he  free  reading-rooms  and 
travelling  libraries  in  all  the  Mexican  cities  where 
there  are  Americans,  with  plenty  of  good  books 
and  the  best  magazines.  The  books  could  go  from 
one  town  to  another  and  serve  a  great  number  of 
people,  and  the  reading-rooms  would  give  the 
young  fellows  a  quiet  place  for  games  and  reading 
and  smoking  and  for  meeting  other  Americans," 
said  Mr.  Stevens,  thoughtfully. 

''And  they  could  have  some  nice  aunt-like 
American  lady  to  keep  the  rooms,  and  maybe  she 
would  darn  their  stockings  for  them,"  added  Ray, 
enthusiastically. 

"I  don't  think  T  could  stand  it  here  all  by  my- 
self," said  Roy;  "I'm  afraid  I'd  take  to  drinking 
pulque." 

They  reached  the  Mint  just  at  this  moment,  and 
saw  the  bars  of  silver  melted  and  stamped  and  the 
milled  edges  put  on  the  coins,  just  as  they  had 
seen  it  done  in  Philadelphia;  but  one  thing  inter- 


U6  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

ested  them  as  a  novelty.  There  were  two  Indians 
whose  business  it  was  to  see  that  the  coins  were 
perfect  before  they  went  out  into  circulation. 
These  men  picked  up  from  the  heap  of  coins 
around  them  a  handful  of  twenty,  never  more  nor 
less,  and  simply  by  running  their  fingers  over 
each  could  tell  if  there  was  any  imperfection.  If 
they  threw  a  coin  aside  as  defective,  it  was  at  once 
melted  down  and  recoined. 

"What  wonderful  finger-ends  they  must  have!" 
whispered  Ray,  afraid  to  speak  aloud  lest  she 
might  disturb  their  operations. 

When  Mrs.  Stevens  joined  them,  a  little  later, 
they  made  their  way  to  the  bottom  of  the  town  and 
up  the  western  hill  to  quite  another  kind  of  neigh- 
bourhood. Here  the  houses  were  very  small  and 
the  people  evidently  of  the  poorer  class.  They 
swarmed  out  of  the  houses  like  bees  from  a  hive 
and  the  streets  were  crowded.  At  one  place  every 
one  was  standing  still,  watching  a  strange  pro- 
cession, headed  and  closed  by  the  city  police.  It 
was  composed  of  women,  nearly  all  old,  and  all 
looking  very  sad  and  paying  no  attention  to  the 
crowd  that  looked  on. 


MORE  GUANAJUATO  367 

"What  does  it  mean?"  asked  Mrs.  Stevens  of 
a  Mexican  lady,  who  explained  very  willingly  thai 
they  were  women  who  had  no  means  of  making  a 
living,  being  old  or  orphaned  and  friendless,  and 
that  the  guards  were  taking  them  to  the  poor- 
house  or  what  corresponds  to  the  American 
poor-house.  The  people  looking  on  were  very 
respectful  and  sympathetic,  and  several  of  them 
exclaimed  " Pobrecitas!  (Po-vray-cee'-tas :  Poor 
things!)"  in  a  tone  of  compassion. 

"What  is  that  great  fortress-looking  thing  at 
the  top  of  that  high  hill?"  asked  Roy. 

"The  Campo  Santo,  or  cemetery,"  replied  his 
father,  "and  it  is  the  place  we  are  bound  for 
to-day.  If  you  don't  want  to  climb  this  steep 
street,  you  can  ride  up  on  donkeys." 

The  children  jumped  at  the  chance  and  were 
soon  ambling  up  the  hill  on  the  sure-footed  beasts, 
with  a  driver  behind  them,  while  their  parents 
toiled  slowly  after  them,  Mrs.  Stevens'  former 
experience  having  given  her  a  deep  distrust  of  the 
animal.  At  the  top  of  the  street  they  joined 
forces  again,  and  were  soon  inside  the  walls  and 
among   the   tombs,   which   had   their   headstones 


368  ROY  AND  KAY  IN  MEXICO 

hung  with  wreaths  made  of  beads,  of  artificial 
flowers  and  metal  ornaments.  But  the  tombs  that 
at  once  attracted  Boy's  and  Bay's  attention  were 
ranged  along  the  wall  in  a  sort  of  cloister  and 
were  made  of  masonry  with  openings  large  enough 
to  insert  a  coffin  endwise.  The  opening  was 
then  sealed  up  and  the  name,  age  and  date,  with 
some  text  or  other  epitaph,  were  inscribed  on  the 
outside.  These  tombs  were  arranged  one  above 
another,  to  a  height  of  twelve  or  fifteen  feet. 

"If  an  American  dies  in  Mexico,  what  happens 
to  him?"  asked  Boy. 

"One  of  four  things,"  said  Mr.  Stevens.  "The 
law  forbids  bodies  to  be  taken  out  of  the  country 
until  five  years  after  death,  on  account  of  possible 
contagion.  But  by  the  expenditure  of  a  great  deal 
of  money  for  embalming  and  packing,  etc.,  the 
transfer  to  the  States  can  be  made  under  great 
difficulties.  It  costs  as  much  as  a  thousand  dollars 
sometimes.  By  waiting  five  years,  depositing  the 
body  meantime  in  one  of  these  vaults  and  paying- 
rent  for  the  place,  one  may  transport  it  to  the 
States  without  objection  and  with  only  the  usual 
•  'xpense.    If  the  body  is  to  remain  in  Mexico,  one 


MORE  GUANAJUATO  369 

of  these  i daces  can  be  rented  (a  perpetuidad 
(pair  pay-tu-ee-dad' :  in  perpetuity),'  and  it  will 
not  be  disturbed;  if  there  is  no  one  to  claim  it, 
it  will  be  kept  here  a  year  or  so  on  the  chance  of 
a  claimant  appearing  and  then,  if  still  unclaimed, 
will  be  put  in  the  common  trench  with  hundreds 
of  other  bodies." 

"Well,  that's  fair,  I  guess,"  said  Roy. 

"Yes,  for  with  us  an  unclaimed  body  goes  to  the 
Potter's  Field  or  city  burying-ground,  at  once,  I 
believe." 

At  this  point,  the  guide  inquired  if  they  wished 
to  go  into  the  catacombs.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stevens 
looked  at  each  other  and  at  the  children,  hesi- 
tating. 

"We'll  let  them  decide,"  said  Mr.  Stevens 
finally,  and  he  told  them  that  the  catacombs  were 
occupied  by  bodies  which  had  formerly  been  in  the 
vaults  but  which,  the  rent  not  being  renewed  at 
the  end  of  five  years,  and  no  instruction  being  re- 
ceived in  regard  to  them,  were  taken  out  of  the 
tombs  and  placed  in  these  underground  corridors. 
That  is,  they  were  brought  there  if  the  body  was 
mummified.    If  there  were  nothing  left  but  bones, 


370  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

those  went  into  the  trench.  "Do  just  as  you  think 
best  about  going  down,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  in  con- 
elusion  ;  and  Roy  and  Ray,  after  a  little  shrinking 
back,  decided  to  go,  not  so  much  because  they 
wished  to  see  the  mummies  as  because  they  did 
not  wish  to  be  left  behind  alone.  A  few  steps 
downward  below  the  trap-door  which  a  boy  held 
open  for  them,  brought  them  into  an  anteroom 
through  the  glass  door  of  which  they  looked  into 
the  corridor  where  the  mummies  leaned  against 
the  wall,  clad  in  white  sheet-like  coverings  pro- 
vided by  the  government.  It  was  a  grotesque 
sight,  as  they  stood  there  year  after  year,  gradu- 
ally falling  into  deeper  decay,  with  tufts  of  hair 
clinging  to  the  skull  in  some  cases,  the  teeth  show- 
ing white  and  ghastly,  and  no  two  of  them  looking 
any  more  alike  in  death  than  in  life.  There  was 
something  very  dreadful  about  it  to  the  children, 
and  Ray  whispered  to  Roy  as  they  turned  away, 
"I'd  rather  be  burned  in  the  crematory,  and  then 
if  anybody  wanted  to  look  at  the  ashes,  I  should 
not  mind." 

"Well,  let's  get  out  of  this,"  said  Mr.  Stevens, 
abruptly,  and  they  soon  found  themselves  at  the 


MORE  GUANAJUATO  371 

gate,  after  feeing  the  boy,  who  had  presented 
each  of  them  with  a  flower  plucked  from  the 
cemetery  flower-beds. 

"We  must  get  the  view  from  here,"  said  Mrs. 
Stevens,  as  they  stepped  outside  the  wall,  "for  it 
is  said  to  be  one  of  the  finest  in  Mexico." 

They  sat  down  and  looked  at  the  city  below  and 
the  green  hills  surrounding  it  and  melting  into 
blue  ones  in  the  distance,  the  little  white  houses 
like  dove-cots  stuck  here  and  there  along  the 
ledges  of  the  hills,  the  going  and  the  coming  of 
the  people  on  foot  and  on  donkeys  up  the  long, 
steep  streets,  and  soon  the  thought  of  the  grue- 
some things  they  had  just  seen  was  effaced  by  the 
beauties  of  this  wonderful  scenery.  When  they 
reached  the  hotel  again  and  realised  that  they 
must  go  over  early  to  Silao  to  take  their  train 
again  for  the  north,  the  children  were  quite  dis- 
appointed. They  felt  that  they  had  seen  few- 
places  so  interesting  as  Guanajuato  and  they 
would  have  liked  to  stay  much  longer. 

"But  at  Chihuahua,  we  shall  see  Cousin 
Francis,  shan't  we?  and  he  will  tell  us  a  lot  about 
the  mines,"  said  Ray,  trying  to  console  herself. 


372  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

"Yes,  if  we  are  fortunate  enough  to  find  him 
at  home." 

"Well,  we've  got  that  much  more  of  Mexico  to 
look  forward  to,  anyhow,"  said  Roy. 

"You're  getting  to  be  a  convert,  aren't  you, 
Roy?"  said  his  mother,  smiling. 

"It's  so  different  and  that  makes  it  so  interest- 
ing," said  Roy,  in  apology.  "Of  course,  to  live  in, 
it  isn't  half  so  nice  as  it  is  at  home;  but  to  travel 
in,  it's  the  most  interesting  country  I  ever  expect 
to  see." 


CHAPTER  XXXI 
CHIHUAHUA  AND  HOME 

At  Silao,  while  they  waited  for  their  train,  the 
party  had  the  odd  experience  of  dining  in  an  old 
freight-car,  which  some  Chinamen  kept  as  a 
restaurant.  There  was  one  car  for  first-class  and 
one  for  second-  or  third-class  custom,  and  the 
tables  were  set  lengthwise  of  the  car,  light  enter- 
ing through  the  broad  doors  at  the  side,  to  which 
steps  had  been  built  up.  The  dinner  was  very 
good  and  things  looked  very  clean  in  the  first-class 
car. 

The  journey  from  Silao  to  Chihuahua  was  only 
moderately  interesting,  for  after  the  strange  and 
foreign  things  they  had  been  seeing,  the  northern 
part  of  Mexico  seemed  less  and  less  novel.  Be- 
sides, they  were  again  on  a  sleeping-car  and  that 
alone  was  enough  to  make  the  journey  seem  like 
one  in  the  States.  At  Aguas  Calientes  (Ah'-gwas 
Cal-i-en'-tays)  there  was  the  excitement  of  seeing 

373 


374  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

the  venders  of  drawn-work,  for  this  town  is  the 
headquarters  of  the  industry.  They  were  not 
allowed  upon  the  station  platform  but  could  come 
up  to  a  certain  railing  where  the  passengers  from 
trains  could  meet  them  and  examine  their  work. 
Such  beautiful  work  much  of  it  was  that  Mrs. 
Stevens  could  not  resist  buying  a  piece  or  two 
and  Ray  also  bought  from  her  pocket-money  a 
pretty  handkerchief  for  her  best  friend  at  home. 
Prices  went  lower  and  lower  as  the  time  drew  near 
for  the  train  to  start,  and  often  afterward  in  the 
States  Ray  remembered  with  regret  the  lovely 
things  they  might  have  bought  and  did  not. 

"What  does  Aguas  Calientes  mean?"  asked 
Roy. 

"Hot  waters  or  scalding  waters,"  said  his 
mother.  "There  are  very  famous  baths  here,  and 
even  that  ditch  over  there  runs  hot  water.  Those 
little  houses  are  public  bath-houses  and  before 
they  were  put  up  the  poorer  natives  used  to  bathe 
openly  in  the  ditch  or  stream.  The  springs  are 
about  a  mile  away,  I  believe." 

"The  conductor  has  just  told  me,"  said  Mr. 
Stevens,  "that  the  baths  first  erected  were  named 


CHIHUAHUA  AND  HOME  375 

for  John  the  Baptist  and  the  apostles,  and  each 
had  its  name  and  its  temperature  written  over  the 
entrance." 

"I  wish  we  could  have  stopped  here,"  said  Ray. 

"Some  time  you  may  come  again,"  said  Mr. 
Stevens.  "But  both  Silao  and  Aguas  Calientes 
are  railroad  towns  with  large  railway  shops  and 
much  affected  by  American  influences.  They  are 
much  less  Mexican  in  atmosphere  than  the  more 
southern  places,  and  likely  to  be  still  less  so  as 
time  goes  on." 

"I  always  used  to  think,"  said  Roy,  "that  the 
minute  you  crossed  the  line  from  one  country  to 
another,  things  were  different;  but  it  seems  as  if 
we  were  getting  back  to  the  States  and  American 
ways  by  degrees,  seeing  these  northern  towns  like 
this." 

Zacatecas  (Zah-ca-tay'-cas)  was  the  only  other 
town  on  the  way  that  made  them  wish  to  stop.  It 
is  one  of  the  principal  mining  cities  of  the  world, 
yet  it  looks  from  a  distance  like  a  collection  of 
Arab  dwellings.  The  blue  and  yellow  of  some  of 
these  stand  out  in  the  sharp  sunlight,  making  the 
town  look  like  a  lovely  mosaic  in  pale  colours. 


370  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

' '  I  daresay  we  are  going  over  some  of  the  mines 
now, ' '  said  Mr.  Stevens  as  the  road  curved  in  and 
out  among  the  hills,  "and  probably  some  of  those 
donkey-trains  we  see  are  loaded  with  silver  ore." 

The  train  was  late,  as  usual,  owing  +o  the  rainy 
season  and  the  danger  of  washouts,  and  had  to 
proceed  very  carefully.  Indeed,  with  all  its 
caution,  there  were  times  when  it  swayed  danger- 
ously from  side  to  side  on  its  uneven  road-bed. 
At  one  place,  they  were  delayed  for  two  or  three 
hours  by  a  freight-wreck  ahead  of  them. 

"If  we  were  at  home,  we  should  be  afraid  the 
next  train  would  run  into  us,"  said  Roy,  "but 
when  there  are  only  about  two  trains  a  day  you 
don't  have  to  be  anxious  about  collisions." 

Night  came  on,  and  morning,  which  should  have 
brought  them  into  Chihuahua  in  time  for  break- 
fast, found  them  still  on  the  road.  Their  welcome 
was  all  the  warmer,  however,  when  they  finally 
arrived  toward  noon  and  found  their  cousins,  who 
had  been  at  the  station  several  times  in  the  course 
of  the  morning. 

The  family  were  soon  sitting  in  the  pretty  little 
patio  of  Mr.   Francis   Stevens'  cottage,   not  far 


CHIHUAHUA  AND  HOMK  377 

from  the  new  park  or  alaineda  in  the  American 
quarter  of  the  city,  discussing  Mexico  and  the 
Mexicans.  As  they  had  expected,  Chihuahua 
proved  to  be  even  more  Americanised  than  Aguas 
Calientes.  When  they  drove  out  in  the  afternoon. 
they  found  the  public  buildings  looked  more  like 
those  at  home  than  any  they  had  seen;  but  there 
was  one  thing  that  connected  the  city  closely  with 
all  that  they  had  seen  before  and  that  was  the  fact 
that  Hidalgo  and  his  followers  had  been  im- 
prisoned and  executed  here.  The  children  climbed 
up  by  a  winding  stairway  into  the  old  tower  where 
the  patriots  had  waited  for  their  execution,  and 
wondered  whether  they  themselves  could  have 
been  patriots  to  the  death. 

When  Mr.  Francis  pointed  out  to  them  in  the 
Plaza  the  monument  to  Hidalgo,  on  the  spot  where 
the  execution  took  place,  they  stood  a  long  time 
looking  at  it  as  if  they  would  fix  it  in  their 
memories. 

The  Cathedral  itself,  begun  in  1717  and  finished 
after  about  seventy-five  jTears,  interested  the 
children  chiefly  on  account  of  the  story  of  its 
building.      Instead    of   using   a    scaffolding,    the 


378  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

builders  raised  the  earth  about  it  as  the  walls  went 
up,  and  the  materials  were  carried  up  this  earthen 
runway.  By  the  time  the  towers  were  finished, 
the  runway  extended  away  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  Plaza. 

"Of  all  the  funny  ways  to  build!"  exclaimed 
Roy. 

"What  do  you  suppose  they  did  with  all  the 
earth  afterward?"  asked  Ray. 

"Oh,  scraped  it  away  with  their  hands  into 
those  reed  mats,  I  suppose,"  said  Roy,  scornfully. 
"It  would  be  their  way  of  doing  things." 

"They  are  pretty  slow  and  awkward  in  their 
methods,"  said  Mr.  Francis,  laughing,  "but  I 
hardly  think  they  are  as  bad  as  that.  The  church 
cost  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars  and  was  built 
with  a  tax  levied  by  the  priests  on  the  mine  of 
Santa  Eulalia,  near  the  city.  They  were  to  have 
two  reales  on  every  pound  of  silver.  So  you  see 
what  a  very  rich  mine  it  must  be.  It  is  one  of  the 
oldest,  too." 

"Won't  you  tell  us  something  about  the  mines 
in  Mexico,  Cousin  Francis?"  asked  Roy. 

"I  suppose  you  know,"  said  Mr.  Francis,  "that 


Jr. 

< 

Ed 

O 

2 


CHIHUAHUA  AND  HOME  370 

the  principal  product  is  silver.  There  is  some 
gold,  but  not  much,  so  far  as  known,  though  the 
Aztecs  had  many  gold  ornaments.  Then  there  is 
an  iron  mountain  in  the  State  of  Durango,  and 
there  is  considerable  coal,  with  some  lead  and 
copper.  Sulphur  has  been  mined  from  the  crater 
of  Popocatepetl  since  the  days  of  the  Conquest — 
it  is  in  a  very  pure  state. ' ' 

"Who  owns  the  mines?"  asked  Roy. 

"Mexicans  largely,  though  there  are  some 
foreign  companies,  and  many  of  the  mining- 
engineers,  assayers,  etc.,  are  foreigners.  The 
Americans,  English,  and  Germans,  are  all  invest- 
ing and  gradually  introducing  modern  machinery. 
In  the  mines  where  old  methods  are  used,  the 
miners  climb  up  and  down  shafts  of  several 
hundred  feet  in  depth  by  ladders  or  by  steps  cut 
in  the  side  of  the  shaft.  Some  have  the  old  wind- 
lass arrangement,  worked  by  mules." 

"The  mines  are  not  very  easy  to  get  to,  are 
they?"  asked  Mrs.  Stevens. 

"Not  very.  It  means  a  long  trip  on  horseback 
or  on  donkeys.  If  you  were  going  to  stay  longer 
I  should  urge  your  going  up  with  me,  but  I  could 


380  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

not  return  with  you  in  less  than  four  or  five  days 
and  that  would  interfere  with  your  plans,  if  you 
are  really  bent  on  going  on  as  soon  as  you 
say. ' ' 

1  'Yes,  we  must  not  stay,"  said  Mr.  Stevens, 
regretfully,  "but  one  of  these  days,  perhaps,  Roy 
and  I  will  come  down  again  and  then  we  shall 
certainly  want  to  see  the  inside  of  several  mines. 
There  is  so  much  more  to  be  seen  in  Mexico  than 
we  had  any  idea  of  that  one  visit  is  certainly  not 
going  to  be  enough.  This  time,  we  have  looked  at 
the  old  things  and  places  and  observed  the  Mexi- 
cans. Another  time,  we  shall  study  the  mines  and 
mills  and  great  manufactures  and  observe  modern 
Mexico." 

"It  is  going  to  be  a  great  country,"  said  Mr. 
Francis,  "for  it  has  wonderful  resources  and  it  is 
making  steady  and  rapid  progress.  If  the  people 
at  large  can  only  keep  up  with  this  progress,  it  has 
a  wonderful  future.  Given  the  administration  of 
a  second  Diaz,  the  people  also  will  progress  in 
education,  in  freedom  from  superstition,  and  in 
appreciation  of  all  that  goes  to  make  modern 
civilisation.     For  the  present  and  doubtless  for 


CHIHUAHUA  AND  HOME  381 

years  to  conic,  they  will  need  a  firm  hand  at  the 

wheel  and  a  sagacious  head." 

"One  thing  I'd  like  to  know,"  said  Roy, 
thought  t'ul  I  v.  "I'd  like  to  know  what  President 
Diaz  himself  would  say  now  if  he  had  to  prophesy 
about  Mexico  twenty-five  years  from  now." 

Mr.  Francis  smiled.  "He  could  do  it  truly  if  any 
one  could,  for  he  knows  the  character  and  the 
possibilities  of  the  Mexican  people  and  he  has 
often  shown  a  far-sightedness  in  his  plans  that 
amounted  to  prophecy.  But  he  would  probably 
say  'Quien  sabef  'Who  knows?'  " 

A  day  later,  the  Stevenses  said  good-bye  to 
their  cousins  and  set  out  upon  their  last  day's 
travel  in  Mexico.  It  was  an  uneventful  day's 
journey,  though  Kay  said,  when  they  stopped  at  a 
tiny  station  where  a  few  peons  had  gathered,  "I 
feel  like  looking  hard  at  everything  that  isn't 
American  because  it's  going  to  be  gone  so 
soon,  even  if  I've  seen  it  a  hundred  times 
before. ' ' 

"Yes,  so  do  I,"  said  her  mother,  "and  yet  I 
shall  be  glad  to  be  on  our  own  soil  again.  How 
about  you,  Roy?" 


382  ROY  AND  RAY  IN  MEXICO 

"Well,  [Ve  had  enough  this  time,"  said  Roy, 
"but  I'd  be  rather  sorry  if  I  thought  I  wasn't  ever 
coming  again." 

"I  hope  it  won't  all  be  changed  and  just  like  the 
States  next  time,"  said  Ray. 

"Don't  be  afraid,"  said  her  father.  "There 
will  still  be  the  old  ruins  and  there  will  still  be  the 
people — it  won't  be  so  easy  to  change  them  in  a 
short  time.  But  it  is  true  that  the  ways  of  doing 
things  will  change — we  shall  have  to  go  away 
from  the  highways  to  find  primitive  customs 
and  costumes  in  a  few  years.  The  peons  are 
giving  up  the  serape  in  the  manufacturing 
towns  and  the  white  suits  and  sombreros  may 
follow." 

It  was  late  evening,  owing  to  further  delays, 
when  they  crossed  the  Rio  Grande  at  El  Paso, 
leaving  the  Mexican  town  of  Juarez  behind  them. 
Lights  shone  along  the  banks  of  the  river — the 
American  customs  officials  came  through  the  train 
and  called  upon  the  passengers  to  declare  their 
drawn-work — the  fine  new  station  was  crowded 
witli  people,  and  everywhere  they  heard  American 
expressions  in  American  voices — "The  Mexicans 


CHIHUAHUA  AM)  HOME  383 

have  such  nice  voices,"  said  Kay,  sighing, — and 
soon  they  were  swallowed  up  in  the  crowd,  on  the 
way  to  their  connecting  train.  Mexico,  the  land  of 
manana  (to-morrow),  was  behind  them,  and  the 
land  of  to-day  was  before  them. 


THE    END 


38-4 


ROY    AND    RAY    IN    MEXICO. 


MEXICAN   NATIONAL   HYMN. 

Music  by  Don  Jaime  Nunc     Words  by  Don  Francisco 
Gonzalez  Bocanegra. 
Coro. 


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Me  -  xi  -  ca  -  nos,  al  gri  -to    de    guer       -      ra      El     a 
3/ex  -  i  -  cans,  at  the  sound  of  the    war      -      cry     The 


ce   -    ro  a-prestad  y  el   bri  -  don, 
sword  and  thecharg-er   pre-  pare, 


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MEXICAN  NATIONAL  HYMN. 


385 


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no  -  ro     ru-gir       del        ca-firtn, 
can-non's  deep  roar   shakes  the    air. 


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no    -     ro       ru  -  gir         del  ca  -  11611. 

can   -  non's  deep  roar       shakes    the    air. 


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386         ROY    AND    RAY    IN   MEXICO. 

Voz.     Estrofa. 


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Cifia  joh    pa- trial tus   sie-nes  de  o -li      -      va      De     la 

Let  the  archangel  of    peace,the  di  -  vine         one,  Crown  thy 


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MEXICAN    NATIONAL    HYMN. 


387 


=   ; 


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de     -     do    de  Dios    se  es-cri-bio. 
fin    -    ger    of  God     was  por-trayed. 


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once       the  bold  foot      of      a  stran  -  ger 

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388         ROY    AND    RAY    IN    MEXICO. 


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pa  -  tria    que  -  ri  -  da!  que  el  cie 
mem-ber  heaven  sends  thee      a       sav 


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lo       Un   sol- 
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da-do      en  ca-da  hi    -    jo        te      dio,      Un  sol 

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da       do      en     cado      hi     -    jo     te     dio. 
each  son      to     come       to    thy    aid. 


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MEXICAN    NATIONAL    HYMN.         389 

1-1 1 1  Bangrientos  combates  los  viste, 
Por  tu  amor  palpitando  sus  senos, 
Arrostrar  la  metralla  sereuos, 
Y  la  uiuerte  6  la  gloria  buscar. 

Si  el  recuerdo  de  antiguas  hazafiaa 
De  tus  hijos  inflama  la  mente, 
Los  recuerdos  del  triunfo  tu  frente 
Volverdu  ininortales  ;i  urnar.     Coro. 

Colno  al  golpe  del  rayo  la  encina 
Se  derrumba  hasta  el  hondo  torrente 
Ladiscordia  vencida,  inipotente, 
A  los  pies  del  arcaugel  cayo. 

Ya  no  mas  de  tus  hijos  la  sangre 
Se  derrama  en  contienda  de  hermanos  ; 
S61o  encueutra  el  acero  en  sus  manos 
Quieu  tu  uombre  sagrado  insult6.     Coro. 


Vuelve  altivo  d  los  patrios  hogares 
El  guerrero  a  cantar  su  victoria, 
Ostentaudo  las  palmas  de  gloria 
Que  supiera  en  la  lid  conquistar. 

Tornardnse  sus  lauros  saugrientos 
Eu  guinialdas  de  niirtos  y  rosas, 
Que  el  amor  de  las  hijas  y  esposas, 
Tambi6n  sabe  d  los  bravos  premiar.     Coro 

Y  el  que  al  golpe  de  ardiente  metralla 
De  la  patria  en  las  aras  sucumba, 
Obtendrd  eu  rcompensa  una  tumba 
Donde  brille  de  gloria  la  luz. 

Y  de  Iguala  la  ensena  querida 
A  su  espada  sangrienta  enlazada, 
De  laurel  inmortal  coronada 
Formard  de  su  fosa  la  cruz.     Coro. 

i  Patria  I  ;  Patria!  tus  hijos  te  juran 
Exhalar  en  tus  aras  su  aliento 
Si  el  clarfn  con  su  belico  acento 
Los  convoca  d  lidiar  con  valor. 

jPara  tf  las  guinialdas  de  oliva! 
;Un  recuerdo  para  ellos  de  gloria! 
|Un  laurel  para  tf  de  victoria! 
jUn  sepulcro  para  ellos  de  honor! 

CORO. 

Mexicanos,  al  grito  de  guerra 
El  acero  aprestad  y  el  bridou, 
V  retiemble  «*n  su  centro  la  tieiTa, 
Al  sonoro  rugir  del  cafidn. 


390         ROY   AND    RAY    IN    MEXICO. 

In  bloodiest  combats  thou  seed  them, 
For  thy  honor  their  hearts  bravely  beating, 
Serenely  the  death-missiles  meeting, 
And  seeking  or  glory  or  death. 
If  the  records  of  ancient  achievements, 
Of  thy  children  illumine  the  spirit, 
Equal  triumphs  their  proivess  shall  merit, 
To  wear  on  thy  brow  as  a  wreath.     Chorus. 

As  the  live-oak  at  stroke  of  the  lightning 
Crashes  into  the  stream  deeply  flowing, 
Discord,  vanquished  and  powerless  showing, 
At  the  feet  of  the  archangel  lay. 
Now  no  more  shall  the  blood  of  thy  children 
Be  shed  in  a  conflict  of  brothers, 
The  sword  in  their  hands  for  no  others 

Than  those  ivho  thy  name  would  betray.     Chorus. 


Proud  returns  to  his  country  maternal 
The  warrior,  his  victory  chanting, 
His  trophies  triumphantly  vaunting 
That  he  fought  for  and  won  on  the  field. 
His  garlands  of  laurel,  all  gory, 
Into  myrtles  and  roses  converted, 
Fit  guerdon  for  heroes  brave-hearted, 
Such  as  women  xoith  love  ever  yield.     Chorus. 

And  he  who  by  murderous  weapons 
For  his  country  expires  at  her  altars, 
From  the  justice  that  nevermore  falters, 
Shall  receive  a  bright,  glorious  tomb. 
Of  Iguala  the  banner  beloved, 

Hound  his  still  bleeding  sabre  entwining, 
With  laurel  immortal  combining, 
Forms  the  cross  pointing  up  from  the  gloom. 

Chorus 
0  country,  my  country,  thy  children 
Their  life-blood  to  thee  have  devoted, 
When  the  clarion's  call,  brazen-throated, 
To  battle  shall  summon  the  brave. 
For  thee  then  the  garlands  of  olive  ! 
For  them  a  most  glorious  memorial  I 
The  laurels  for  thy  brow  the  aureole ! 
For  them  deathless  fame  and  the  grave ! 

Chorus. 

Mexicans,  at  the  sound  of  the  war-cry, 

The  sword  and  the  charger  prepare, 
Let  the  earth  to  its  innermost  tremble 

When  the  cannon's  deep  roar  shakes  the  air. 


LA    PALO. MA. 
LA    PALOMA. 


am 


:2 


Allegretto. 


Vhaliii:. 


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Cuan-do 


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sali  de  la  Ha- 


392         ROY    AND    RAY    IN    MEXICO. 

3 


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Na-die 


bana,  Valga  -   me  Dios  ! 


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vi-uo  trasdemf         que  si     se  -  fioi 


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-•-  -•-  -•-  -•-  m  #-  ■#-  -#-  m     r3«  - 


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394 


ROY   AND    RAY    IN   MEXICO. 


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con  8ra.  ad  libitum. 


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396 


ROY    AND    RAY    IN    MEXICO. 


gau,melohan    pe  -   gau    y 


V    ^    V 

re  -  pe  -  gau,  pe 


gau. 


When  I  went  out  from  Havana,  Heaven  bless  me  I 
No  one  but  my  own  self  espied  me  on  the  ivay, 
And  a  pretty  Mexican — there  you  see  me ! — 
Who  came  after,  following  me,  si  Sehor. 

If  to  thy  window  cometh  a  dove, 

Treat  it  with  endearments,  for  it  is  myself,  dear. 

Tell  it  thy  love  tales,  joy  of  my  being, 

And  crown  it  with  flowers,  for  it  is  my  own. 

Ah,  chinita,  say  yes!  Ah,  but  give  me  thy  love! 

Oh,  come  with  me,  come  with  me, 

Chinita,  my  home  awaits  my  love. 

Ah,  chinita,  say  yes,  Ah,  but  give  me  thy  love. 

Ah,  come  vjith  me,  come  with  me,  chinita, 

My  home  awaits  my  love. 

Have  I  not  sfiown  thee,  have  I  not  shown  thee, 

The  quadrilateral,  so  much  besung, 

That  the  Austrians  have  presented, 

To  my  master,  so  much  portrayed? 

And  the  little  paper  certificate 

That  the  war  has  terminated, 

With  three  seals  they  have  sealed  it  for  me, 

Have  sealed  it,  reseated  it,  ami  sealed  it. 


LA    GOLONDRlNA. 
LA   GOLONDRlNA. 

CAXCION    I'OI'ILAK. 


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jaggiipp^ip 


A-don-de  i  -  ra     .     ve  -  loz   y  fa  -  ti  -  ga  da  la  go-lon- 

Wherewillii     go,   .  the  swift  and  weary  swal  -  low  That  from  this 


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dri  na  que  de  a-quf  se    va, 0  si  en  el 

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LA    GOLONDRINA. 


399 


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sar,  .     .    .      tam-bien  yo  es-toy         en   la  re-gion    per - 

fy/,     .     .     .       Fur  nl  -  so     I  in  this  atramja  land  am 


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fly.        Near  to  my    fly. 


-•-•- 


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400  ROY    AND    RAY    IN    MEXICO. 

Adonde  iril  veloz  y  fatigada 
La  golondrina  que  de  aqui  se  va, 

0  si  en  el  viento  se  hallard,  extraviada 
Buscando  abrigo  y  no  lo  encontrard- 

Junto  a  mi  lecho  le  pondre'  su  nido 

En  donde  pueda  la  estacion  pasar  ; 
Tambien  yo  estoy  en  la  region  perdido 
0  cielo  santo  !  y  sin  poder  volar. 

Where  ivill  it  go,  the  swift  and  weary  swallow 

That  from  this  place  is  winging  forth  its  way  ? 
What  if  a  straying  loind  it  blindly  follow, 

Seeking  where  none  exists  a  sheltering  stay  ! 
Near  to  my  bedside  shall  it  make  its  homing, 

While  the  long  season  slowly  passes  by, 
For  also  I  in  this  strange  land  am  roaming, 

And  I,  0  blessed  heaven,  can  not  fly ! 

Deje  tambien  mi  patria  idolatrada, 

Esa  mansi6n  que  me  miro  nacer, 
Mi  vida  es  hoy  errante  y  angustiada 

I  ya  no  puedo  a  mi  mansion  volver. 
Ave  querida,  amada  peregrina, 

Mi  corazon  al  tuyo  estrechare, 
Oire  tu  canto,  tierna  golondrina, 

Itecordare  mi  patria  y  llorare. 

1  too  my  cherished  country  have  deserted, 

The  little  house  where  first  I  saw  the  light  — 
My  life  has  wretched  been  since  I  departed, 

Nor  toward  that  home  can  I  again  iving  flight. 
Beloved  swallow,  pilgrim  dear  and  slender, 

My  heart  with  thine  companionship  shall  keep, 
Hearing  thy  voice  in  song,  0  swallow  tender, 

I  shall  recall  my  land  and  softly  iveep. 


INDEX 


Aguacate,  The,  110 
Aguas  Calientes,  373 
Alamo,  The,  28,  S3 

American   Young  Men   in   Mex- 
ico, 364. 
Animals,  Domestic,  43,  213,  216 
Aztecs,  The,  131 

Baths  of  Tehuacan,  318 

Beggars,  67,  71,  198,  272 
Borda  Garden,  The,  19!) 
Brooms,  46 
Bull-fights,   114 
Burial  Laws,  368 
Burro-riding,  227 

Cake-venders,  252 

Calendar  Stone,  The,  147 
Carlotta,   Empress,  The,  153 
Cathedral   of  Chihuahua,  377 
Cathedral    of   City    of    Mexico, 

65 
Cathedral   of   Cuernavaca,   201, 

2  >  j 

Cathedral  of  Guadalupe,  80,  84 
Cathedral  of  Puebla,  240 
Cave-dwellers,  267 
Cemetery     and     Catacombs     at 

Guanjuato,  367 
Chapultepec,  31,  158 
Chihuahua,  376 
Cholula,  Pyramid  of,  137,  254 


Christmas,  American,  in  Mex- 
ico, 237 

Church,  Oldest,  in  Western 
Hemisphere,  248 

City  of  Mexico,  55 

Coffee,  332 

Concerts,  Band,  in  Cuernavaca, 
193 

Confetti,  119 

Conquest  of  Mexico,  132 

Convicts,  337 

Corn-cribs,  251 

Cortez,  Hernando,  136,  221,  276 

Cuauhtemoc,  140 

Cuernavaca,  181,  192,  195 

Cuernavaca,  History  of,  221 

Customs  at  Mexican  frontier, 
34 

Diaz,  Porfirio,  91,  123 

Education,  104 

Esperanza,  323 
Eucalyptus  plasters,  234 
Evil  eye,  The,  24 
Execution,  An,  335 

Family,  Mexican,  A,  265 
Federal  district,  The,  129 
Flower-market  of  City  of  Mex- 
ico, 70 
Fourth  of  July,  118 


401 


402 


INDEX 


French   invasion,   The,   94,    152, 

333 
Funerals,  90 

Game  of  Mexican   History,   17, 

26 
Gardens,  Floating,  175 
Golondrina,  La,  194 
Golondrina,  La   (music),  397 
Government  of  Mexico,  101,  130 
Greetings,  Mexican,  320 
Grito,  The,  77 
Guanajuato,  342,  351,  363 

Haciendas,  51,  230 

Hidalgo,    Padre,    76,    157,    360, 

377 
Hotel  in  Cuernavaca,  186 
Hotel  Yturbide,  59 

Images,  Sacred,  250,  274,  330 
Independence    Bell    of    Mexico, 

76 
Independence,     Mexican,     War 

of,  77 
Inquisition,  The,  223 

Juarez,  Benito,  93,  95,  99,  156 

Kitchens,  263,  306 

Laundry,  A,  53 

Letter-writers,  Professional,  356 

Library,  public,  A,  219 

Maltrata,  326 

Map  of  Mexican  journey,  1 
Market-places,  195,  241,  247 
Maximilian,   Emperor,   The,  97, 
153,  232,  333 


Mexican  War,  The,  29 
Mexico,  Northern,  43 
Mines  and  mining,  49,  378 
Mint   at   Guanajuato,   The,  365 
Mitla,  Journey  to,  278 
Mitla,  Ruins  of,  295,  314 
Mitla,  Village  of,  290 
Money,  38 

Moctezuma  II,  135,   159 
Morelos,  General,  223,  225 

Napoleon  III,  152 
National  holiday,  The,  78 
National    hymn,    The    (music), 

384 
National  Museum,  The,  146,  156 
National  palace,  The,  76 
Navy-yard,    A,    in    the    moun- 
tains, 142 
Nixtamal,   197 

Oaxaca,  271 
Orizaba,  328 
Oxen  and  ox-carts,  282 

Paloma,  La   (music),  391 

Paseo  de  la  Reforma,  The,  144 

Patios,  58,  106,  186,  292,  310 

Pawnshop,   government,   A,  357 

Pedregal,  The,  179 

Pelota,  111 

Peon,  heroic,  The,  360 

Peons,  146,  214 

Peon's  home,  A,  212 

Porteros,  189,  262 

Pottery,  Cuernavaca,  184,  207 

Puebla  de  los  Angeles,  240 

Puebla,  History  of,  242 

Queretaro,  344 
Quetzalcoatl,  137,  150,  259 


INDKX 


40:3 


R  lira  Irs,  The,   102,  163 

Sacrifldal  Stone,  The,  148 

Sad  Indian,  The,  149 

Sails  of  stone,  85 

San   Anton,   Village  of,  205 

San  Antonio  (Texas),  22 

San  Luis  Potosi,  47 

Santa  Anita,   Village  of,   173 

Santa  Anna,  General,  86,  93 

Santo      Domingo,     Church      of 

(Oaxaca),   275 
Scenic  journey,  A,  325 
School,  American,  The,  107 
School,  public,  Mexican,  A,  164 
School,  military,  National,  The, 

162 
Schools,  Night,  348,  362 
Serape,  The,  53 
Silver  mines,  343,  363 

Tajo  de  Nochistongo,  313 

Tamale,  The,   128 

Texas,  Republic  of,  The,  28 


Theatre  Juarez,  353 

Tlacolula,  287 

Tlaltenango,  209 

Tlaxcala,  245 

Tortilla,  The,  109 

Tram    ride    from    Tehuaean    to 

Esperanza,  319 
Treaty   of  Guadalupe   Hidalgo, 

32 
Tree  of  La  Noehe  Triste,  13 J, 

139 
Tule,  Great  tree  of,  285 

Valley  of  Mexico,  55,  143 
Viga  canal,  The,.  167 
Virgin  of  Guadalupe,  80 

Winter  weather,  149,  237 

Yturbide,     General     and     Em- 
peror, 61 

Zacatecas,  375 
Zocalo,  The,  65 


By  CARROLL    WATSON    RANKIN 

TWO  STORIES  FOR  GIRLS 

Dandelion     Cottage 

Illustrated  by  Mines.   Shinn  and  Finlky.     $1.50 

Four  young  girls  secure  the  use  of  a  tumble-down 
cottage,  on  condition  that  they  shall  keep  the  grounds 
in  order.  They  set  up  housekeeping  under  numerous 
disadvantages,  and  have  many  amusements  and  queer 
experiences. 

"A  capital  story.  It  is  refreshing  to  come  upon  an  author 
who  can  tell  us  about  real  little  girls,  with  sensible,  ordinary 
parents,  girls  who  are  neither  phenomenal  nor  silly.  Simple, 
wholesome,  and  withal  most  entertaining."— Outlook. 

"The  humor  of  the  tale  is  well  borne  out  in  the  pictures."  — 
Dial. 

"  The  story  is  one  of  cheerfulness  and  fun,  and  is  to  be  warmly 
commended  as  one  of  the  best  of  the  season  "  —  Boston  Herald. 

"  The  story  is  a  story  for  its  own  sake,  brightly  and  cheerfully 
told."—  Chicago  Tr ibune. 

The  Girls  of  Gardenville 

Illustrated  by  Mary  Wellman.     i2mo.     $1.50 

Interesting,  amusing,  and  natural  stories  of  a  girls' 
club— "The  Sweet  Sixteen"  of  Gardenville.  The 
doings  of  these  girls  at  home,  among  themselves  assem- 
bled, or  on  excursions,  are  pleasantly,  healthfully,  and 
wholesomely  related. 

"  It  is  pleasant  to  have  another  book  about  a  group  of  merry, 
natural  girls,  who  have  the  attractions  of  innocence  and  youth- 
ful faults,  '  The  Sweet  Sixteen  '  Club  made  fudge,  and  went  on 
Jjicnies,  and  behaved  just  as  jolly,  nice  maidens  should." — Out- 
00k. 

"  The  same  cheerfulness  of  activity  that  hovered  around  '  Dan- 
delion  Cottage'  is  perceptible  around  'The  Girls  of  Garden- 
ville '  "—Chicago  Tribune. 

"  Will  captivate  as  many  adults  as  if  it  were  written  for  them. 
.  .  .  The  secret  of  Mrs.  Rankin's  charm  is  her  naturalness  .  .  . 
real  girls  .  .  .  not  young  ladies  with  'pigtails,'  but  girls  of  six- 
teen who  are  not  twenty-five— deserves  much  credit  ...  as 
original  as  amusing  .  .  .  positively  refreshing."— Boston  Tran- 
script.  

Henry    Holt    and   Company 

Publishers  (viii  '06)  New  York 


By    MARION    A.    TAGGART 

AUTHOR     OF    "  THE      LITTLE     GREY     HOUSE,"    "   MISS     LOCHINVAR,"    ETC. 

Two    Stories    for  Young    Folks 
DADDY'S    DAUGHTERS 

Illustrated  by  G.  W.  BRECK.     #1.50 

"Daddy,"  an  admirable,  patient,  "literary"  man, 
who,  like  many  of  his  kind,  finds  it  a  trifle  hard  to  make 
both  ends  meet,  and  four  girls,  his  daughters,  are  dis- 
tinctly individualized.  More  girls  live  on  the  other 
side  of  Daddy's  garden  hedge  and  have  three  jolly 
brothers.  Their  adventures  and  home  life  make  a  book 
full  of  natural,  lively  young  folks  and  their  doings,  yet 
tinged  throughout  with  the  delicate  refinement  of  the 
sympathy  between  the   artistic  father  and  his  girls. 

"A  lot  of  sound,  hearty  children  provide  the  proper  sort  of 
fun."— AT.  Y.  Sun. 

"  Miss  Taggart's  pleasant  story  is  admirably  adapted,  not  only 
to  the  tastes  but  also  to  the  needs  of  young  girls.  May  be  heartily 
commended."— Providence  Journal. 

NUT    BROWN    JOAN 

With  frontispiece  and  decorations    by  BLANCHE  OSTERTAG 

#1-5° 

Joan  is  an  energetic,  lovable  girl,  who  has  all  the 
fun  and  most  of  the  tro  ubles  of  a  member  of  a  large 
family.  Her  experiences,  when  the  cares  of  a  house- 
hold fall  on  her  shoulders,  will  strongly  appeal  to  any 
girl's  housekeeping  instincts;  while  her  love  of  fun, 
and  especially  her  friendships,  will  find  sympathetic  re- 
sponse in  the  hearts  of  older   boys  and  girls. 

"A  wholesome  and  pretty  story  of  a  family  of  young  people 
not  the  least  attractive  of  whom  is  their  ugly  duckling,  Nut 
Brown  Joan.  Her  pleasant  fellowship  with  a  boy  nicknamed 
Darby  is  one  of  the  nice  things  in  this  little  homely  history.  — 
Outlook. 

"A  story  for  older  girls,  well  worth  while,  and  onewhichit 
will  be  well  to  bear  in  mind  for  a  gift  at  the  holiday  season.  — 
Brooklyn  Eagle. 


Henry  Holt  and  Company 

Publishers  <iv,  '07)  New  York 


The  Boys  of  Bob's   Hill 

Hy  CHARLES   PIERCE    BURTON 

Illustrated  by  George  A.  Williams.      i2mo.     Si. 25. 

A  lively  story  of  a  party  of  boys  in  a  small  New  England 
town.  Fun,  sport,  and  exciting  adventures  are  every-day 
matters.  On  holidays  everything  happening  in  their  neigh- 
borhood leads  up  to  hair-breadth  escapes  or  jolly  mishaps. 

"  A  first-rate  juvenile  ...  a  real  story  for  the  live  human  boy — any 
boy  will  read  it  eagerly  to  the  end  .  .  .  quite  thrilling  adventures." — 
Chicago  Ret  ord-Hei  al,t. 

"Tom  Sawyer  would  have  been  a  worthy  member  of  the  Bob's  Hill 
crowd  and  shared  their  good  times  and  thrilling  adventures  with 
uncommon  relish.  ...  A  jolly  group  of  youngsters  as  nearly  true  to 
the  real  thing  in  boy  nature  as  one  can  ever  expect  to  find  between 
covers." — Christ  ia n  Register. 

Nelson's  Yankee   Boy 

By  FREDERICK  II.   COSTELLO,  author  of  "  On  Fighting 
Decks  in  1812." 

Illustrated  by  W.  H.  Dunton.      121110.     $1.50. 

An  American  sailor  boy  is  impressed  by  the  English  and 
is  present  at  Trafalgar  and  Nelson's  death.  The  story  con- 
cludes with  a  sea-fight  in  our  own  War  of  18 12. 

"  Most  interesting  .  .  .  certain  to  be  enjoyed  by  any  intelligent 
boy."—  Outlook. 

"A  rattling  good  story."— Philadelphia  Press. 

"  A  boy  of  whom  all  '  Yankees  '  may  be  proud  ...  is  entertaining, 
oftentimes  thrilling.  Nor  is  there  anything  improbable  about  it;  the 
boy  is  honest  and  true,  and  the  whole  tone  of  the  book  is  invigorating." 
— Ch  icago  Tr  ii  unr\ 

Prince   Henry's  Sailor   Boy 

By  OTTO   VON   BRUNECK.     Freely  Translated  and 
Adapted  by  Mary  J.  Safford 

With  illustrations  by  George  A.  Williams.      i2mo.     $1.50. 

A  tale  of  life  in  the  German  Navy  to-day.  Claus  Erichsen 
goes  to  Japan,  China,  Africa,  and  elsewhere,  and  has  a  few 
troubles,  but  many  more  jolly  adventures. 

"  Well  written  and  interesting."— Dial. 

"  A  complete  and,  we  are  sure,  able  picture  of  the  life  lived  by  a 
German  sailor  lad.  .  .  .  A  brisk,  interesting  plot."— Providence  Journal. 

"  Excellently  adapted  to  the  taste  of  American  youth  ...  a  tirst- 
rate  story.  .  .  .  It  has  plenty  of  adventure."— Ph iladelphia  Press. 

"Told  in  a  way  to  keep  the  young  eyes  steadily  at  work  from  the 
tirst  page."—  Washington  Star. 


Henry       Holt      and      Company 

1'ulUishers  ,ix,  '05)  New  York 


STANDARD  CYCLOPEDIAS  FOR  YOUNG  OR  OLD 

CHAMPLIN'S 

Young  Folks'  Cyclopedias 

By  JOHN  D.  CHAMPLIN 

Late  Associate  Editor  of  the  American  Cyclopadia 
Bound  in  substantial  red  buckram.     Each  volume-  complete 
in  itself  and  sold  separately.      i2mo,  $3.00  per  volume,  retail 

COMMON    THINGS 

New,  Enlarged  Edition,  850  pp.     Profusely  Illustrated 

"A  book  which  will  be  of  permanent  value  to  any  boy  or  girl  to 
whom  it  may  be  given,  and  which  rills  a  place  in  the  juvenile  library, 
never,  so  far  as  I  know,  supplied  before." — Susan  Coolidge. 

PERSONS   AND   PLACES 

New,  Up-to-Date  Edition,  985  pp.     Over  375  Illustrations 

"We  know  copies  of  the  work  to  which  their  young  owners  turn 
instantly  for  information  upon  every  theme  about  which  they  have 
questions  to  ask.  More  than  this,  we  know  that  some  of  these  copies 
are  read  daily,  as  well  as  consulted;  that  their  owners  turn  the  leaves 
as  they  might  those  of  a  fairy  book,  reading  intently  articles  of  which 
they  had  not  thought  before  seeing  them,  and  treating  the  book  simply 
as  one  capable  of  furnishing  the  rarest  entertainment  in  exhaustless 
quantities," — N.    Y.  Evening  Post. 

LITERATURE  AND   ART 

604  pp.      270  Illustrations 

"Few  poems,  plays/novels,  pictures,  statues,  or  fictitious  characters 
that  children — or  most  of  their  parents — of  our  day  are  likely  to  inquire 
about  will  be  missed  here.  Mr.  Champlin's  judgment  seems  unusually 
sound." — The  Nation. 

GAMES   AND   SPORTS 

By  John  D.  Champlin  and  Arthur  Bostwick 

Revised  Edition,   784  pp.      900  Illustrations 

"Should  form  a  part  of  every  juvenile  library,  whether  public  or 
private." —  The  Independent. 

NATURAL    HISTORY 

By  John  D.  Champlin,  assisted  by  Frederick  A.  Lucas 
725  pp.     Over  800  Illustrations 

"Here,  in  compact  and  attractive  form,  is  valuable  and  reliable  in- 
formation on  every  phase  of  natural  history,  on  every  item  of  interest 
to  the  student.  Invaluable  to  the  teacher  and  school,  and  should  be  on 
every  teacher's  desk  for  ready  reference,  and  the  children  should  be 
taught  to  go  to  this  volume  for  information  useful  and  interesting." — 
Journal  of  Education. 

HENRY     HOLT     AND     COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  (U,  \)6)  CHICAGO 


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